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THE 


THREE  AGES  OF  PROGRESS 


BY 


JULIUS   K.    DKVOS, 


RECTOR  OF  ST.   MICHAEL'S  CHURCH,    SPALDING,  NEB. 


With  Preface  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Ogdensburg. 


M.  H.  WILTZIUS  &  CO., 

PUBLISHERS, 

MILWAUKEE,  Wis. 

1899. 


LOAN  STACK 

NIHIL  OBSTAT. 

SIMON   LEBL,    D.    D., 

CENSOR   LIBRORUM. 


Imprimatur. 

*FREDERICUS   XAYERIUS, 

Archiepiscopus  Milwauchiensis. 


Milwaukee,  Dec.  30th,  1899. 


COPYRIGHT,   1899,   BY  M.  H.  WILTZIUS  &   Co. 


PREFACE. 


TTHE  book,  presented  by  Father  Devos  to  readers  of 
Church  history  under  the  name  of  "Three  Ages  of 
Progres",  is  not  a  chronicle  of  events  as  its  size  might 
suggest,  but  it  is  a  series  of  tableaux  of  the  principal 
ecclesiastical  events  which  have  occurred  in  the  world  since 
the  coming  of  Christ  with  an  interspersion  of  philosophical 
considerations,  from  a  Catholic  standpoint,  of  their  causes 
and  their  effects.  The  conspiracy  against  truth  which 
originated  with  the  Centuriators  of  Magdeburg  has,  during 
this  century,  received  many  mortal  blows,  not  only  at  the 
hands  of  Catholics  like  de  Maistre,  Lingard,  Stolberg, 
Hurter,  Cantu,  Rohrbacher,  Veuillot,  Gorini,  Wouters, 
Jungmann,  Brownson,  Janssen,  Parsons,  Pastor  and  others, 
but  from  non-Catholics  as  well,  such  as  Roscoe,  Yoigt, 
Gregorovius,  Guizot  and  many  more  in  the  old  country, 
and  it  is  actually  being  pulverized  by  Starbuck  of  Andover 
on  our  side  of  the  ocean.  It  is  time  therefore  that  Catholics 
take  a  more  decided  stand  against  the  calumnies  of  their 
enemies,  not  only  by  defending  the  Church  as  they  have 
always  done,  but  by  making  positive  moves  against  the 
hostile  lines,  carrying  the  war  into  Africa  itself.  This  has 
become  easier  indeed  since  the  illustrious  Pontiff  who  so 
marvelously  continues  to  hold  the  rudder  of  Peter's  bark 
has  proclaimed  the  "open  door  policy"  in  regard  to  the 
rich  archives  of  the  Vatican.  Henceforth  there  can  not 

594 


IV  THE  THREE  AGES. 

• 

only  be  no  room  in  serious  works  for  the  invented  bulls 
and  grievances  and  tariffs  and  oaths  which  made  the 
delight  of  anti-Catholic  writers  and  lecturers,  but  the  very 
original  reports  and  communications  from  the  enemies  as 
well  as  from  the  friends  of  the  Church  to  and  with  the 
Centre  of  Christendom,  in  all  centuries,  will  bring  out  in 
their  true  light  the  victories  and  the  defeats,  the  gains 
and  the  losses  of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth.  And  surely 
neither  the  Church  at  large,  nor  the  Papacy,  on  which  she 
is  founded,  will  lose  anything  by  this  better  acquaintance 
with  the  facts. 

The  author  appropriately  calls  his  book  "  Three  Ages 
of  Progress";  for  progress  indeed  there  has  been  and  there 
is  in  the  life  of  the  Church.  Progress,  not  in  the  newness 
of  doctrines  or  in  alterations  of  the  constitutional  organi- 
zation of  Christ's  mystical  body,  or  in  more  abundant 
communications  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  "For  who,  when  going 
over  the  history  of  the  Apostles,  the  faith  of  the  rising 
Church,  the  struggles  and  slaughter  of  the  valiant  martyrs, 
and  finally  most  of  the  ages  past,  so  abundantly  rich  in 
holy  men,  will  presume  to  compare  the  past  with  the 
present  times  and  to  assert  that  they  received  a  lesser 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost?"  (Leo  XIII,  Testam  Bene- 
volentiae.)  But  the  progress  has  been  in  a  fuller  under- 
standing of  the  doctrines,  brought  about  by  the  very 
denials  of  heresy  and  the  consequent  discussions  and  con- 
demnations of  errors  against  the  once  delivered  truth; 
progress  there  has  been  in  the  practical  application  of  the 
constitution  given  to  the  Church  by  her  Founder ;  progress 
there  has  been  in  the  larger  extension  of  the  Divine  king- 
dom and  the  consequently  greater  number  of  its  soldiers 
and  of  its  citizens.  Must  not  the  whole  creation  finally 
acknowledge  the  sceptre  of  the  incarnate  Son  of  God? 
(I  Cor.  xv,  28.) 


PREFACE.  V 

All  this  the  " Three  Ages  of  Progress"  places  before  the 
reader  in  a  simple  but  attractive  manner.  For  the  proofs 
of  the  facts  and  the  grounds  of  the  deductions  the  student 
is  to  consult  critical  essays  and  ex  professo  histories;  the 
ordinary  reader  will  be  satisfied  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
portrayed  events,  which,  he  may  rest  assured,  have  been 
drawn  from  certified  sources.  The  book  is  complete  enough 
to  make  the  Church  appear,  as  she  has  been  and  as  she 
is,  the  true  continuation  on  earth  of  the  Divine  Teacher 
and  Ruler  of  mankind,  and  to  furnish  arms  with  which  to 
attack  and  defeat  her  enemies ;  it  is  not  too  large  to  pre- 
vent its  admission  into  the  humblest  households  and  into 
all  libraries,  parochial  and  private.  We  wish  it  all  success 
both  for  the  sake  of  our  holy  religion  and  as  a  reward 
of  his  labor  for  its  humble  but  learned  and  zealous  author. 

t  H.  GABRIELS, 

Bishop  of  Ogdensburg. 


CONTENTS. 


PREFACE. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Chapter  First.    DEGRADATION  OF  THE  WORLD 1 

I.    Orginal  Fall 1 

II.    Idolatry  among  Savages 2 

III.  Idolatry  among  Civilized  Peoples 2 

1.  Pantheism  of  Eastern  Asia 2 

2.  Dualism  of  Western  Asia 5 

3.  Man-worship  of  Europe 5 

IV.  The  Ruin  Irremediable 7 

Chapter  Second.     BLESSINGS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 9 

I.    The  City  of  God  and  the  City  of  Satan 9 

II.    Religious,  Social  and  Liberal  Progress 9 

III.    A  Conspiracy  against  the  Truth 12 

EARLY  AGE.    A.  D.  1—476.    FROM  JUPITER  TO  CHRIST. 

Chapter  Third.    CHRISTIANITY  AGAINST  PAGANISM 19 

I.    Nature  of  the  Contest 19 

II.    Threefold  Triumph 20 

1.  Triumph  over  Jewish  Prejudice 20 

2.  Triumph  over  Roman  Power 21 

3.  Triumph  over  Greek  Science 22 

III.    Appeal  to  the  Philosophers 23 

Chapter  Fourth.    DIVINITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 25 

I.    The  Central  Figure  of  History 25 

II.     The  Desired  of  the  Nations 25 

III.  The  Lord  of  Nature 26 

IV.  The  Ruler  of  Mankind 28 

Chapter  Fifth.    UNWILLING  WITNESSES 32 

I.    Sad  Fall  of  the  Jewish  Nation 32 

II.    Election  of  a  People 32 

III.  Unique  Crime  and  Imcomparable  Punishment 34 

IV.  Undying  Hostility 38 


VIII  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Chapter  Sixth.    THE  TWELVE  FISHERMEN 41 

I.    The  Apostles  Too  Busy  to  Write 41 

II.    Foundation  of  a  Worldwide  Empire 42 

III.  The  Two  Apostolic  Types 46 

1.  Peter  the  Wise  Governor 46 

2.  Paul  the  Eager  Conqueror 47 

IV.  Contrast  to  Mohammedanism 48 

Chapter  Seventh.    POWERLESS  TYRANTS 49 

I.    The  Pagan  Empire  Wars  on  the  Church 49 

II.    Cruel  Assault  by  Two  Monsters 50 

III.  Systematic  Persecution  by  Two  Statesmen 51 

IV.  Warlike  Attack  by  Five  Soldiers 52 

V.    Culminating  Persecution  and  Miraculous  Victory 53 

Chapter  Eighth.    TRIUMPHANT  VICTIMS 55 

I.    The  Eloquence  of  Blood 55 

II.    Sublime  Virtues  of  the  Martyrs 55 

III.    Immense  Number  of  the  Martyrs 57 

Chapter  Ninth.    CHRISTIANITY  AND  PHILOSOPHY 59 

I.    Doctrine  Cast  into  Scientific  Form 59 

II.    The  Philosophers  Accept  Christianity 59 

III.  The  Sophists  Pervert  Christianity 61 

IV.  Triple  Condemnation  of  the  Sophists 62 

1.  Condemnation  by  Doctors 62 

2.  Condemnation  by  Councils 63 

3.  Condemnation  by  Divine  Providence 65 

Chapter  Tenth.    HALFWAY  CHRISTIANITY 67 

I.    Is  Jesus  God  or  Man? 67 

II.    The  Two  Champions 67 

III.  The  Solemn  Judgment 68 

IV.  Fortyfive  Years  of  Struggle  and  Triumph 70 

Chapter  Eleventh.    HERESY  DISCARDED 74 

I.    Doctrines  Put  to  a  Test 74 

II.    Heresies  Against  the  Fall  and  the  Redemption * 74 

1.  Donatism 74 

2.  Manicheeism 75 

3.  Pelagianistn 75 

III.  Heresies  Against  the  Blessed  Trinity 76 

1.  Arianism 76 

2.  Macedonianism 76 

IV.  Heresies  Against  the  Incarnation 76 

1.  Nestorianism 76 

2.  Monophysitism 79 

3.  Monothelitism 81 

Chapter  Twelfth.    RUINOUS  SCHISM S3 

I.    Decav  of  Greek  Church...  83 


CONTENTS.  IX 

II.    Causes  of  the  Schism 84 

1.  Decline  of  Clerical  Celibacy 84 

2.  Iconoclasm  of  the  Emperors 84 

3.  Constantinople's  Jealousy  of  Rome 86 

III.  Instruments  of  the  Schism 86 

IV.  Terrible  Consequences  of  the  Schism 88 

MIDDLE  AGE,  A. D. 476-1517.  FROM  BARBARISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

Chapter  Thirteenth.    CHRISTIANITY  AND  AIOHAMMEDANISM 95 

I.    Definition  of  Civilization 95 

II.     Christianity  a  School  of  Civilization 97 

III.  Mohammedanism  a  Camp  of  Barbarism 99 

IV.  The  Torch  of  Enlightenment 101 

Chapter  Fourteenth.    BARBARISM  OF  WESTERN  EUROPE 103 

I.     Europe  a  Whirlpool  of  Nations 103 

II.    The  Migrations  of  the  Peoples 103 

III.    The  Inroads  of  the  Barbarians 105 

Chapter  Fifteenth.    CONVERSION  OF  THE  BARBARIANS 109 

I.    The  Papal  Missionaries 109 

II.    Tribes  Settled  in  the  Old  Empire 110 

1.  Franks 110 

2.  Visigoths.  Longobards  and  Anglo-Saxons 110 

III.  Teutons  on  their  Native  Soil 112 

1.  Germans 112 

2.  Scandinavians 113 

IV.  Slavs  and  Mongols 113 

1.  Moravians 113 

2.  Bohemians 114 

3.  Prussians 114 

4.  Poles 114 

5.  Russians 115 

6.  Hungarians 115 

V.    Apostolic  Success  Lacking  Among  Sectaries 115 

Chapter  Sixteenth.    EDUCATION  OF  THE  BARBARIANS 117 

I.    St.  Benedict  a  Providential  Man 117 

II.    The  Gospel  of  Industry 118 

III.  Stability  of  Benedictine  Order 120 

IV.  Making  Haste  Slowly 122 

Chapter  Seventeenth.    CONSTITUTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY 123 

I.    Distinct  but  Harmonious  Powers 123 

II.    The  Papacy  and  its  Temporal  Powers 123 

1.  Local  Independence 123 

2.  International  Authority 125 

III.    The  Empire  and  the  Feudal  System 126 

1.  Bond  of  Union 126 

2.  The  Lord  and  his  Fiefs...  ..  127 


X  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Chapter  Eighteenth.    DEFENCE  OF  CHURCH'S  LIBERTY 130 

I.    Intrusion  of  Unworthy  Clerics 130 

II.    Leaders  of  the  Conflict 130 

III.  Hildebrand's  Heroic  Struggle 132 

IV.  St.  Gregory's  Triumph  after  Death 134 

Chapter  Nineteenth.    DEFENCE  OF  POPULAR  LIBERTY 136 

I.    The  Rebukers  of  Tyranny 136 

II.    Frederic  Barbarossa 136 

III.  Frederic  II 138 

IV.  The  Popes  the  Friends  of  Republics 140 

Chapter  Twentieth.    THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMONWEALTH 142 

I.  A  Pontiff-President 142 

II.  The  Arbiter  of  Nations 143 

III.  The  Enforcer  of  the  Christian  Law 144 

IV.  The  Defender  of  Christendom 146 

V.  The  Ideal  Court  of  Arbitration 147 

Chapter  Twenty  first.    DECLINE  OF  TEMPORAL  SUPREMACY 148 

I.    Cunning  of  Philip  the  Fair 148 

II.    Resistance  of  Boniface  VIII 148 

III.  Concessions  of  Clement  V 150 

IV.  A  Temporary  Expedient 153 

Chapter  Twentysecond.    PERPETUITY  OF  SPIRITUAL  SUPREMACY 154 

I.    Unity  of  Obedience 154 

II.    Disputed  Papal  Succession 155 

III.  The  Outcome 158 

1.  Conciliar  Theory  Exploded 158 

2.  Papal  Authority  Vindicated 160 

IV.  Visible  Protection  of  Providence 161 

Chapter  Twentythird.    UNITY  OF  FAITH 165 

I.    The  Foundation  of  Society 165 

II.    Faith  Enlightened  by  the  Doctors 165 

III.  Faith  Guarded  by  the  Statesmen.... 168 

IV.  Measures  in  Conformity  to  the  Times 171 

Chapter  Twenty  fourth.    HOLINESS  OF  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY ".....  172 

I.    Salvation  the  Great  Aim 172 

II.    Fulness  of  Christian  Life  in  the  World 172 

III.    Heroic  Sacrifices  in  Religious  Orders 173 

1.  Ancient  Orders 173 

2.  Mendicant  Orders 174 

3.  Charitable  and  Military  Orders 176 

4.  The  Glory  of  True  Religion 178 

Chapter  Twentyfifth.    PROSPERITY  OF  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY 179 

I.    Material  and  Spiritual  Progress 179 

II.    Chivalry 179 

III.  Free  Cities  and  Guilds 181 

IV.  Universities  and  Cathedrals 183 

V.    Progress  Stopped  by  Protestants  and  Freemasons 185 


CONTENTS.  .  XI 

Chapter  Twentysixth.    A  NEW  BARBARISM  THREATENED 187 

I.    Mohammed  not  Qualified  to  Found  a  Religion 187 

II.    An  Incongruous  System 187 

III.  Fanatical  Warfare 189 

IV.  Social  and  Economic  Degradation 191 

V.    America's  Debt  to  the  Church 193 

Chapter  Twenty  seventh.    ASSAULT  OF  THE  ARABS 194 

I.    Instruments  in  God's  Hands 194 

II.    Punishment  of  the  Sectaries 194 

III.    Trial  of  the  Catholics 196 

1.  Resistance  of  France 196 

2.  Expulsion  of  Moslems  from  Italy 197 

3.  Liberation  of  Spain ,...  197 

4.  Spain  a  Queen,  Greece  a  Slave 190 

Chapter  Twentyeight.    THE  CRUSADES 200 

I.    United  West  Takes  the  Offensive 200 

II.    Origin  and  Results  of  Crusades 200 

III.  First  Crusade 202 

IV.  Later  Crusades 20& 

V.    St.  Louis  a  Type  of  Christian  Chivalry 206 

Chapter  Twentyninth.    INVASION  BY  OTTOMAN  TURKS 208 

I.    Necessity  of  Union 208 

II.    Ruin  of  Schismatic  Greeks 208 

III.  Triumph  of  Catholic  Europe 211 

IV.  The  Church  Alone  Saved  Civilization 214 

MODERN  AGE,  A.  D.  1517-1899.    FROM  LIBERALISM  TO  LIBERTY. 

Chapter  Thirtieth.    THE  KEY  TO  MODERN  HISTORY 219 

1.    The  Enemies  of  Liberty 219 

II.    Liberalism  in  Religion 220 

III.  Liberalism  in  Politics 222 

IV.  Leo  XIII  on  True  and  False  Liberty 225 

Chapter  Thirtyfirst.    LAX  PROTESTANTISM 228 

I.    Luther  a  Second  Mohammed 228 

II.    Despotism  in  Fact 228 

1.  A  False  Prophet 228 

2.  A  Presumptuous  Doctor 229 

3.  An  Intolerant  Anti-Pope 230 

III.    License  in  Principle 231 

Chapter  Thirty  second.    RIGORISTIC  PROTESTANTISM 234 

I.    Mohammedan  Features  of  Calvinism 234 

II.    A  Gloomy  System 234 

1.  Fatalism 234 

2.  Intolerance 235 

III.    Evil  Fruits  of  Calvinism...,  ..  236 


XII  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Chapter  Thirtythird.    AUTOCRATIC  PROTESTANTISM 239 

I.    Spirit  of  English  Revolt 239 

II.    Schism  of  Henry  VIII 239 

III.  Heresy  Introduced  bj'  Somerset 242 

IV.  Catholic  Reaction  Under  Mary 243 

V.    Final  Establishment  of  Protestantism  by  Elizabeth 243 

VI.    Evil  Means  and  Results 246 

Chapter  Thirtyfourth.    PERSECUTIONS  IN  IRELAND 248 

I.    A  Nation  of  Martyrs 248 

II.    Futile  Efforts  of  Henry  and  Somerset 248 

III.  Systematic  Attempts  at  Extermination 249 

1.  Elizabethan  Persecution 249 

2.  Treachery  of  the  Stuarts 250 

3.  Persecutions  by  Cromwell  and  William 250 

4.  Persecutions  by  the  Georges 252 

IV.  Infamous  Penal  Laws 252 

V.    Honor  to  Whom  Honor  is  Due 254 

Chapter  Thirty  fifth.    PROTESTANT  DESPOTISM 255 

I.    Separatists  Enslave  Both  Body  and  Soul 255 

II.    Tyranny  of  Episcopalian  Kings 256 

III.  Violence  of  Lutheran  Princes 256 

IV.  Intolerance  of  Calvinistic  Peoples 258 

1.  Liberty's  Worst  Foes 258 

2.  Germany  and  Switzerland 258 

3.  Scotland 259 

4.  England v 260 

5.  France 261 

6.  Netherlands 262 

V.    The  Spanish  Inquisition  Outdone 263 

Chapter  Thirtysixth.    PROTESTANT  DISSOLUTION 264 

I.    No  Means  of  Unity 264 

II.    Workings  of  Leaven  of  Revolt 264 

III.  Disintegration  of  Sects 267 

1.  Endless  Subdivisions 267 

2.  Lutheran  Sects 268 

3.  Calvinistic  Sects 269 

4.  Episcopalian  Sects 269 

5.  Methodist  Sects 270 

6.  Baptist  Sects 271 

7.  Strange  Superstitions 271 

IV.  A  Worm  Cut  to  Pieces 272 

Chapter  Thirty  seventh.    THE  REAL  REFORMATION 273 

I.  Reform  Versus  Revolt 273 

II.  The  Council  of  Trent 273 

III.  Revival  in  Catholic  Countries 275 

IV.  Reconversion  of  Three  Lands 277 

V.  The  Church  Alone  Renews  Her  Youth...,  ..  27 


CONTENTS.  X11I 

Chapter  Thirtyeighth.    DIVINE  APOSTLESHIP 280 

I.    Conversion  by  Study  of  Foreign  Alissions 280 

II.    The  Apostolic  Spirit 280 

III.  The  Apostolic  Method 281 

IV.  A  Typical  Missionary 283 

V.    Actual  Results  of  Foreign  Missions 285 

1.  Asia 285 

2.  Oceanica 286 

3.  Africa 287 

4.  Levant 287 

5.  Human  Means  Not  Sufficient 288 

Chapter  Thirtyninth.    MISSIONS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD 289 

I.    Character  of  American  Aborigines 289 

II.    Uplifting  of  Natives  by  tile  Church 289 

1.  Protection  from  Cruel  Adventurers 289 

2.  Half-civilized  Indians  of  the  Pacific 290 

3.  Cannibals  of  the  Atlantic 291 

III.    Ruin  of  Natives  by  the  Sects 293 

1.  A  Contrast 293 

2.  Destruction  of  Spanish  Missions 293 

3.  Hampering  of  French  Missions 294 

4.  Results  of  Protestant  Interference 297 

Chapter  Fortieth.    SPREAD  OF  INFIDELITY 299 

I.    The  Outcome  of  Protestantism ,..  299 

II.    Weakening  of  the  Catholic  Forces 299 

III.  "Freethinkers"  of  Eighteenth  Century 302 

IV.  Neo-Pagans  of  Nineteenth  Century 304 

V.    Infidelity  Reactionary  and  Unreasonable 306 

Chapter  Forty  first.    THE  ANTICHRISTIAN  CONSPIRACY 307 

I.    Liberalistic  Machinations 307 

II.    Freemasonry  Unmasked 307 

III.  The  League  of  Darkness  and  of  Death 309 

IV.  Membership ; 310 

V.    Antichristian  Aims 311 

Chapter  Forty  second.    FRENCH  REVOLUTION 313 

I.    A  Freemasonic  Experiment 313 

II.    First  Phase,  1789:   Constitutional  Liberty 313 

III.  Second  Phase,  1790:  Antichristian  Revolution 314 

IV.  Third  Phase,  1793— '94:   Reign  of  Terror 315 

1.  Destruction  of  the  State 315 

2.  Destruction  of  the  Church 315 

3.  Destruction  of  Civilization 316 

4.  Destruction  of  Life  and  Property 317 

5.  Devastation  of  Whole  Provinces 317 

V.    Attempts  at  Worldwide  Destruction 318 

VI.    National  Apostasy  Drowned  in  Blood 318 


XIV  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Chapter  Fortythird.    THE  CANCER  OF  CATHOLIC  COUNTRIES 320 

I.    Tactics  of  the  Enemy 320 

II.    Attacks  on  Faith  and  Morals 321 

III.  Periodical  Revolutions 323 

IV.  Plundering  Governments 324 

V.    Betrayal  to  Foreign  Powers 324 

VI.    Apathy  of  Catholic  Laity 325 

Chapter  Fortyfourth.    COMMUNISM  AND  ANARCHY 328 

I.    Plutocracy  the  Outcome  of  Liberalism 328 

II.    Theory  of  Socialism 328 

III.  Some  Socialistic  Experiments 330 

IV.  The  Only  Safeguard 333 

Chapter  Forty  fifth.    RALLY  AROUND  THE  PAPACY 335 

I.    Effects  of  Infidel  Persecutions 335 

II.    Pius  VI  Killed  but  Replaced 335 

III.  Pius  VII  Enslaved  but  Liberated 336 

IV.  Pius  IX  Despoiled  but  Exalted 338 

V.    Leo  XIII  a  Prisoner  but  Heard  Throughout  the  World.  340 

VI.    Solemn  Answer  of  Christianity  to  Liberalism 342 

Chapter  Fortysixth.    THE  VICARS  OF  CHRIST 344 

I.    Only  Claimants  of  Peter's  Keys 344 

II.    The  Best  of  Princes 333 

III.  The  Wisest  of  Statesmen 346 

IV.  The  Greatest  of  Civilizers 348 

V.    The  Christian  World's  Demand 350 

Bibliography '. 351 


TABLE  OF  ERRATA. 


Page    3,  line  5,  for  "exist"  read  "exists". 

"        4,    "  3,  "    "Lavist"  read  "Taoist". 

"  23,  "    "Delai"  read  "Dalai". 

"  33,  "    "Tacism"  read  "Taoism". 

"      15,    "  15,  "    "principle"  read  "principal". 

"  26,  "    "centuries  extinction"  read  "centuries— extinction". 

"     22,    '•  13,  "    "symstems"  read  '^systems". 

"      36,    "  35,  "    "superceded"  read  "superseded". 

"     37,     "  15,  "     'Aelid  Capitoland"  read  "Aelia  Capitolina  and". 

"     48,    "  11,  "    "cause  of  the  end"  read  "cause  and  the  end". 

"      54,    "  12,  "    "D/e/eto"  read  "De/eto". 

"      60,    "  24,  "    "principals"  read  principles". 

"      65,    "  26,  "    "dissention''  read  "dissension". 

"      67,    "  16,  "    "immensty"  read  "immensely". 

"      73,    "  8,  "    "governements"  read  "governments". 

"     78,    "  25,  "    "extermenated"  read  "exterminated". 

"     83,    "  3,  "    "on"  read  "in". 

"     86,    "  14,  "    "tne"  read  "the". 

"     87,    "  6,  "    "requeatedly"  read  "repeatedly". 

"     89,    "  1,  "    "seperatists"  read  "separatists". 

"     92,    "  39,  "    "Chrisitianity"  read  "Christianity". 

"      95,    "  14,  "    "Simondi"  read  "Sismondi". 

"     96,    "  32,  "    "everythink"  read  "everything". 

"     97,    "  27,  "    "eflfetually"  read  "effectually." 

"  28,  "    "escablished"  read  "established". 

"   101,    "  7,  "    "flourished"  read  "flourished". 

"   111,    "  33,  "    "who"  read  "whose". 

"   127,    "  31,  "    "fourtheenth"  read  "fourteenth". 

"   135,    "  3,  "    "Pashal"  read  "Paschal". 

"  148,     "  4,  "    "Thon"  read  "Thou". 

"  8,  "    "childeen"  read  "children". 

«  -^  «    "comparativey"  read  "comparatively". 

"  27,  "    "Clement  VII"  read  "Clement  V". 

"   150,    "  14,  "    "Philipp"  read  "Philip". 

"   153,    ''  29,  "    "allowd"  read  "allowed". 

4'  158,    "  28,  "    "Three"  read  "three". 

"  29,  "    "Fourteen"  read  "fourteen". 
"     160,    "    28,  for  "constition"  read  "constitution". 

"    38,    "    "omong"  read  "among". 
"     167,    "    13,    "    "saps"  read  "says". 
"    14,    "    Aeterni  Patris". 


XVI  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Page  174,  line  26,  for  "occasition"  read  "occasion". 

"     177,    "  33,  "  "the"  read  "they". 

"     180,    "  4,  "  "sworn"  read  "sword". 

"      185,    "  35,  "  "knight"  read  "knights". 

"     196,    "  4,  "  "the"  read  "they". 

"     201,    "  18,  "  "Hetrait"  read  "Hermit". 

"     202,    "  28,  "  "Euroye"  read  "Europe". 

"     203,    "  8,  "  "the"  read  "they". 

"     204,    "  25,  "  before  "the"  insert:    "in  an  excess  of  indignation 

put". 

"     231,    "  28,  "  "wrore"  read  "wrote". 

"      235,    "  23,  "  "Swingli"  read  "Zwingli". 

"     236,    "  6,  "  "Servatus"  read  "Servetus". 

"      237,    "  26,  "  "matyrs"  read  "martyrs". 

"     240,    "  10,  "  "exercice"  read  "exercise". 

"     242,    "  26,  "  "out-an-out"  read  "out-and-out". 

"     254,    "  23,  "  "cline"  read  "clime". 

"     263,    "  24,  "  "Lloreutel"  read  "Llorente". 

"     268,    "  20,  "  "Armsdorf '  read  "Amsdorf '. 

"     271,    "  22,  "  "Pork"  read  "pork"'. 

"     274,    "  29,  "  "Peotestant"  read  "Protestant". 

"      280,    "  13,  "  "Christians"  read  "Christian". 

"     281,    "  34,  "  "Apostels"  read  "Apostles". 

"     282,    "  21,  "  "Pamphlets"  read  "pamphlets". 

"  32,  "  "Chsistians"  read  "Christians". 

"     284,    "  17,  leave    out    "the    Moluccas";     for    "Cannibals"    read 

"cannibals". 

"      287,    "  14,  for  "Evangelization"  read  "evangelization". 

"     297,    "  13,  "  "successfull"  read  successful". 

"     301,    "  25,  "  "veci"  read  "feci". 

"      306,    "  15,  "  "now"  read  "not". 

"      316,     "  24,  "  "slole"  read  "stole". 

"     318,    "  36,  "  "APOSTACY"  read  "APOSTASY". 

"      320,    "  25,  "  "Catolic"  read  "Catholic". 

"      325,    "  27,  "  "'68"  "'66". 

"  33,  "  "II"  read  "I". 

"     327,    "  17,  "  "be."  read  "be?" 

"      333,    "  2,  "  "destrution"  read  "destruction". 

"  27,  "  "affairs"  read  "absolutism";  for  "necessity"  read 
"necessitarianism". 

"  29,  "  "Pope"  read  "people". 

"     334,    "  19,  "  "the  the"  read  "the". 

"  26,  "  "of  life"  read  "of". 

"     336,    "  19,  "  "established"  read  "established". 

"  24,  "  "Chiarimonti"  read  "Chiaramonti". 

"     337,    "  15,  "  "Jnly"  read  "July". 

"     347,    "  24,  before  "to"  insert  "and  these". 


INTRODUCTION. 

CHAPTER  FIRST. 
DEGRADATION  OF  THE  WORLD. 

Because  that  when  they  knew  God  they  have  not  glorified 
Him  as  God  or  given  thanks;  but  became  vain  in  their  thoughts, 
and  their  foolish  heart  was  darkened.  For  professing  them- 
selves to  be  wise,  they  became  fools.  And  they  changed  the 
glory  of  the  incorruptible  God  into  the  likeness  of  the  image  of 
a  corruptible  man  and  of  birds  and  of  fourfooted  beasts  and  of 
creeping  things.  Wherefore  God  gave  them  up  to  the  desires  of 
their  hearts,  unto  uncleanliness,  to  dishonor  their  own  bodies 
amongst  themselves ;  who  changed  the  truth  of  God  into  a 
lie,  and  -worshipped  and  served  the  creature  rather  than  the 
Creator,  who  is  blessed  forever.  ROMANS  i,  21 — 25. 

I.    ORIGINAL  FALL. 

traditions  of  all  nations  show  that  mankind  fell  from 
the  blessing  of  Monotheism  into  the  evils  of  Poly- 
theism. They  describe  the  happiness  of  the  first  man  united 
to  God,  and  his  fall  and  consequent  misfortunes.  The  holy 
books  of  the  Hindoos,  the  Parsees  and  the  Chinese,  like 
the  sacred  songs  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Teutons,  celebrate 
a  Golden  Age  similar  to  the  Paradise  of  the  Bible.  They 
also  tell  of  the  unhappy  fall,  and  attribute  it  to  a  woman 
and  a  serpent,  and  bewail  the  evils  of  the  ages  of  Silver, 
Brass  and  Iron. 

The  striking  description  of  the  degradation  of  the  civil- 
ized Pagans  given  by  St.  Paul,  in  the  passage  quoted  above, 
may  be  applied  to  all  Gentiles.  Bossuet,  in  his  Discours 
sur  THistoirz  Universelle,  exclaims:  "All  was  god  except 
God  Himself,  and  the  world  which  had  been  made  to 
manifest  His  power  seemed  to  have  become  a  temple  of 
idols." 

And  we  may  add  that  the  earth  which  had  been  made 
a  paradise  was  turned  into  a  den  of  vice  and  slavery. 

A 


2  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Indeed  the  whole  world  sank  into  abominable  idolatry 
and  a  fearful  corruption.  The  very  religions  which  took 
the  place  of  the  pure  faith  of  Eden  were  a  worship  of 
devils  and  a  consecration  of  vice  —  ari  affront  to  God  and 
a  curse  to  man.  So  worldwide  and  so  deeprooted  were 
the  evils  that  they  could  not  be  exterminated  by  any 
human  agency. 

Accustomed  to  the  blessings  of  a  Christian  civilization, 
we  do  not  realize  the  evils  which  have  always  afflicted  the 
Non-Christian  peoples.  A  rapid  survey  of  the  unregenerate 
world  will  give  us  a  faint  idea  of  its  hopeless  and  univer- 
sal degradation. 

II.     IDOLATRY  AMONG  SAVAGES. 

The  barbarians  of  Africa,  America  and  Oceanica  adored 
fetiches,  that  is,  anything  and  everything  in  which  they 
suspected  some  hidden  virtue.  They  worshipped  animals, 
trees  and  stones,  and  other  most  common  and  inferior 
objects,  and  feared  them  as  evil  spirits  whose  wrath  needed 
to  be  appeased  by  self-torture  or  even  by  human  sacrifices. 
They  had  no  respect  for  the  rights  of  others  whom  they 
regarded  as  enemies.  Hostis,  the  Latin  word  for  "stranger", 
signifies  "enemy",  as  well.  Living  in  a  state  of  incessant 
warfare  they  preyed  upon  the  property  of  their  neighbors, 
reduced  their  persons  to  slavery  and  sometimes  devoured 
their  very  flesh.  To  this  day  some  of  the  islanders  of 
Oceanica  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  taking  whatever 
is  within  their  reach.  Certain  tribes  in  Africa  have  no 
other  occupation  than  to  carry  off  peaceable  villagers  and 
sell  them  as  slaves.  The  Indians  of  North  America  decim- 
ated each  other  by  interminable  wars,  and  those  of  South 
America  fought  many  a  battle  to  procure  human  flesh  for 
their  great  feasts.  The  Mexicans  were  the  most  civilized 
among  the  American  tribes,  and  yet  they  offered  every 
year  to  their  war-god  mor..'  than  20,000  victims. 

III.    IDOLATRY  AMONG  CIVILIZED  PEOPLES. 

1.    Pantheism  of  Eastern  Asia. 

The  false  religions  that  grew  up  among  the  civilized 
nations  took  divergent  views  of  man's  life  in  this  world. 
Eastern  Asia  considered  it  as  a  time  of  expiation,  and  fell 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  WORLD.  3 

into  pessimism;  Western  Asia  as  a  time  of  lust,  and  sank 
into  sensualism ;  and  Europe  as  a  time  of  pleasure  for  the 
masters,  and  developed  an  optimistic  humanism. 

In  the  East  Pantheism  arose  and  still  remains.  Accord- 
ing to  it  the  universe  is  God.  Everything  that  exist  is  in 
some  way  an  evolution  of  the  Divine  Substance.  However, 
the  Pantheists  are  completely  divided  in  regard  to  the 
nature  of  the  world  and  of  God.  The  Materialists  hold  it 
as  material:  Everything  is  matter  or  a  development  of 
matter.  The  Idealists  hold  it  as  spiritual:  Everything  is 
an  idea  of  God  or  an  evolution ,  of  His  ideas.  The  human 
soul  is  a  part  of  God  violently  separated  from  Him  for 
some  crime,  and  eager  'to  return  to  His  bosom.  But  first 
she  has  to  expiate  her  sin,  by  migrating  through  many 
beiugs  as  so  many  steppingstones  to  God.  These  migrations 
are  called  metempsychosis,  and  their  principal  stages  are 
called  castes.  The  principal  religious  leaders  of  India  taught 
that  the  only  way  of  salvation  is  to  pass  through  all  the 
castes,  and  they  established  such  burdensome  rules  of  social 
intercourse  as  to  seriously  hamper  the  relations  of  persons 
belonging  to  different  castes.  Any  one  who  violated  these 
petty  regulations  was  condemned  in  many  cases  to  become 
an  outcast  or  Pariah,  he  and  his  descendants  forever. 

It  was  largely  on  the  question  of  caste  that  Pantheism 
split  into  Brahminism  and  Buddhism.  In  the  sixth  century 
before  Christ  Buddha  tried  to  break  down  the  iron  barriers 
of  the  caste-system,  and  prescribed  renunciation  of  self  and 
devotedness  to  others  as  the  way  to  salvation.  When  a 
soul  is  entirely  detached  from  this  world  she  becomes 
merged  into  God  and  lost  in  Him;  she  enjoys  Rest  or  Nir- 
vana. The  principles  of  Buddhism  are:  Pain  exists,  and 
is  caused  by  earthly  attachments ;  it  will  cease  by  perfect 
detachment,  the  migrations  thus  ending  in  the  Allgod,  or, 
as  some  say,  in  absolute  nothingness  or  "Nirvana". 
Brotherly  love  was  one  of  the  precepts  of  Buddha,  but  it  is 
little  observed  by  his  followers.  Self-torture  to  destroy  their 
personality  is  practised  by  many  poor  Buddhists  as  well  as 
Brahmmists,  and  renders  their  lives  nearly  unbearable. 

Through  the  efforts  of  the  Brahmins  Buddhism  was 
expelled  from  India,  but  it  conquered  several  other  parts 


4  THE  THREE  AGES. 

of  Asia.  At  about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era  it 
penetrated  into  China  and  Japan,  where  it  caused  idols  to 
be  multiplied.  So  far  the  Chinese  had  followed  the  Lavist 
animism  or  the  hollow  moral  code  of  Confucius,  paying 
great  respect  to  their  living  parents  and  Divine  worship 
to  their  deceased  ancestors.  Now  they  began  to  accept 
the  Buddhistic  idols.  The  Japanese,  also,  who  had  pre- 
viously been  content  with  the  comparatively  simple  super- 
stitions of  Shintoism,  sank  deep  into  the  mire  of  idolatry. 
In  some  of  their  temples  as  many  as  30,000  images  of  false 
gods  are  to  be  seen  ranged  around  some  chief  idol.  The 
morals  of  these  peoples  are  selfish  and  licentious,  and 
childmurder  and  other  crimes  are  common  among  them. 

In  Tibet,  under  the  influence  of  early  Christian  mission- 
aries whose  labors  seem  to  have  remained  otherwise  in- 
effectual, Buddhism  has  taken  on  certain  superficial  resem- 
blances, in  worship  and  organization,  to  the  Christian 
Churches  of  the  Orient.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the 
Mongol  conqueror  Kublai  Khan  established  one  of  the 
Buddhist  leaders  as  his  vicero}^  and  the  spiritual  as  well 
as  temporal  head  of  the  country.  At  present  there  are  two 
such  Grand  Lamas  who  are  reputed  to  be  re-incarnations 
of  Buddha.  The  Delai  Lama,  in  particular,  who  is  the 
temporal  sovereign,  or  a  sort  of  Abbot-King,  is  always 
surrounded  by  thousands  of  monks  and  courtiers,  adored 
by  throngs  of  trembling  pilgrims. 

Brahminism  is  estimated  to  have  about  125,000  fol- 
lowers, and  Buddhism,  notwithstanding  the  assertions  of 
certain  writers,  certainly  does  not  possess  at  the  present 
day  much  more  than  that  number.  Besides  these,  there 
are  several  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of 
China  and  Japan  who  must  still  be  counted  as  adherents 
to  some  extent  of  Confucianism,  Tacism  and  Shintoism, 
Buddhism  having  been  losing  ground  of  late  in  those  lands. 

These  religions  form  no  compact  organizations,  and 
their  followers  have  little  in  common  except  their  names; 
they  are  divided  by  doctrine,  worship  and  government 
into  numberless  rival  sects.  On  account  of  their  great 
diversity  no  general  statement  can  apply  with  perfect 
exactness  to  them  all.  But  as  a  whole  thev  are  lost  in 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  WORLD.  5 

their  dreams  of  gods  and  ghosts  and  absorbed  in  the 
pursuit  of  illusory  ends.  Dragged  down  and  kept  back  by 
their  pantheism  and  pessimism  they  have  become  the  prey 
of  peoples  which  follow  the  lights  of  reason  and  revelation 
and  make  intelligent  use  of  the  forces  of  nature. 

2.    Dualism   of  Western  Asia. 

In  the  great  monarchies  occupying  the  center  of  the 
ancient  world  there  prevailed  the  idea  that  two  opposite 
principles  created  this  universe,  to  wit :  the  good  principle, 
the  spiritual,  and  the  bad  principle,  the  material.  It 
resulted  in  the  worship  of  the  gods  of  light  and  the  devils 
of  impurity.  But  the  worship  of  Satan  and  of  the  flesh 
finally  prevailed.  Centuries  before  Christ,  Zoroaster, 
gathering  together,  as  best  he  could,  some  of  the  scattered 
rays  of  the  primeval  revelation,  instituted  the  worship  of 
the  Eternal  Spirit  under  the  symbol  of  fire,  and  to  the 
tribe  of  the  Magi  was  assigned  the  duty  of  keeping  the 
sacred  fire  ever  burning  on  the  hilltops.  Even  this  com- 
paratively pure  system  was  unable  to  resist  the  corrupting 
influences  of  the,  sensualism  and  diabolism  which  prevailed 
throughout  the  great  Semitic  empires.  Magism  soon 
declined,  and  its  priests  gave  themselves  up  to  such  sorcery 
that  it  has  bequeathed  the  name  of  magic  to  the  black 
art.  It  was  reformed  in  the  third  century  of  our  era,  but 
in  the  seventh  its  domains  were  conquered  by  Moham- 
medanism. A  colony  of  Persians  or  Parsees  fled  to  India, 
.and  their  ancient  religion  now  has  its  headquarters  in 
Bombay  and  counts  about  a  hundred  thousand  adherents. 

The  worship  of  devils  and  of  the  flesh  was  carried  on 
all  about  the  people  of  God,  with  such  alluring  temp- 
tations that  the  Bible  is  full  of  warnings  against  these 
horrors.  In  Egypt  unnatural  crimes  were  practiced.  In 
Tyre  the  impure  Astarte  was  honored  by  vice.  In  Babylon 
the  temples  of  the  "goddess  of  love"  were  homes  of  lust 
where  all  had  to  sacrifice  their  virtue  at  least  once  in 
their  lives. 

3.    Man-worship  of  Europe. 

In  Europe  man-worship  and  t}rranny  reigned  supreme. 
The  people  deified  their  military  and  other  heroes,  with 


6  THE  THREE  AGES. 

their  virtues  and  vices.  Thus  vice  was  made  an  object  of 
religion  and  was  freely  indulged  in.  Jupiter,  a  king  of 
Thrace  reputed  to  have  conquered  and  civilized  Southern 
Europe,  was  adored  as  the  god  of  Heaven ;  his  brothers, 
Neptune  and  Vulcan,  were  the  gods  of  the  seas  and  of  the 
subterranean  regions.  Other  heroes  were  similarly  deified, 
and  Jupiter  was  supposed  to  hold  his  court  on  Mount 
Olympus,  with  twelve  principal  divinities  and  a  host  of 
lesser  gods  and  demigods.  The  Romans  accepted  the  gods 
of  the  conquered  nations,  and  Yarro  estimates  the  number 
of  their  idols  at  30,000,  to  whom  they  built  the  magnificent 
temple  of  the  Pantheon.  Not  only  did  the  great  men 
receive  honor  after  death,  but,  what  was  more  practical, 
they  seized  all  the  power  during  life,  and  made  themselves 
the  absolute  masters  of  their  inferiors.  They  reduced  to 
slavery  the  weak  and  the  conquered,  with  all  their  posterity. 
A  slave  was  the  property  of  another,  just  like  a  domestic 
animal.  His  very  life  belonged  to  his  master,  and  might 
be  taken  without  any  process  of  law.  Aged  slaves  were 
often  left  to  starve  to  death  on  an  island  of  the  Tiber. 
If  a  master  was  murdered  all  his  slaves  were  required  to 
be  put  to  death.  In  the  most  refined  cities  the  great 
majority  of  the  people  were  slaves.  Sparta  had  36,000 
citizens  and  360,000  slaves;  Athens  20,000  citizens  and 
400,000  slaves.  At  Rome  it  was  a  common  thing  for 
citizens  to  own  twenty  slaves  or  more,  and  some  great 
patricians  had  as  many  as  20,000.  Thus  the  great  bulk 
of  mankind  were  not  allowed  to  live  for  themselves  but 
were  compelled  to  serve  others.  They  had  no  right  to 
pursue  their  own  happiness ;  their  only  duty  was  to  procure 
that  of  their  tyrannical  owners.  Slavery  was  a  curse  to 
the  masters  themselves,  for  it  accustomed  them  to  idleness 
and  exposed  their  children  to  corruption.  During  the 
empire  the  Roman  people  had  no  idea  of  working;  they 
asked  on-y  for  food  and  amusement:  panem  et  circenses. 
The  government  had  to  feed  hundreds  of  thousands,  and 
to  provide  them  with  the  bloody  spectacle  of  men  and 
beasts  devouring  one  another.  That  idleness  was  one  of 
the  causes  of  the  ruin  of  the  empire.  Moreover  the  slaves 
wreaked  a  terrible  vengeance  for  their  sufferings  upon  the 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  WORLD.  7 

children  of  their  masters,  for,  being  entrusted  with  the 
care  and  the  education  of  the  young,  they  imbued  their 
pupils  with  their  own  incredible  vices. 

IV.    THE  RUIN  IRREMEDIABLE. 

The  corruption  was  so  universal  and  profound  that  no 
human  agencj-  could  bring  relief.  The  sacred  traditions  of 
Eden  were  soon  perverted  by  human  weakness  and  per- 
versity, very  few  of  the  Gentiles  were  willing  to  unite  their 
destinies  to  those  of  the  chosen  people  and  share  the 
advantages  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation;  and  no  human 
philosophy  or  man-made  cult  could  ever  avail  to  rescue 
mankind  from  its  desperate  predicament.  All  religions,  and 
especially  the  great  historic  systems,  are  full  of  vestiges  of 
the  Primeval  Revelation,  and  many  of  their  followers  made 
great  efforts  to  serve  their  Maker  and  raise  themselves  to 
a  high  standard.  But  they  all  finally  rendered  Divine 
honors  to  the  demons  and  sank  into  a  more  and  more 
hopeless  degredation.  Not  only  were  the  Gentiles  unable 
to  resolve  the  problems  of  the  future  life ;  but  even  their 
greatest  thinkers  fell  short  of  the  true  solution  of  the  most 
important  questions  of  this  world.  After  four  thousand 
years  the  Hindus  have  not  yet  emerged  from  their  fatal 
errors  of  pantheism  and  metempsychosis,  and  they  live 
miserably  divided  into  castes  and  sects  and  adore  the 
works  of  their  own  hands.  The  Greek  philosophers,  who 
were  princes  of  science,  did  not  overturn  a  single  idol- 
altar;  still  less  could  they  stop  the  general  corruption  of 
morals.  Socrates  attempted  to  reform  his  fellow-citizens, 
but  he  was  condemned  to  death.  Plato  said:  "It  is  diffi- 
cult to  find  God,  and  when  found  impossible  to  make  Him 
known  to  the  multitude."-  In  order  to  preserve  alive  the 
true  religion  in  at  least  one  little  corner  of  the  globe,  God 
had  selected  one  people  and  separated  them  from  all 
others.  They  too  sometimes  fell  into  idolatry,  which  is  a 
still  greater  proof  of  the  necessity  of  a  Divine  Redeemer. 

At  last  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  came  and  restored  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  happiness  of  man  wherever  His  sway 
was  accepted.  But  whenever  any  nation  has  rejected  or 
neglected  Him,  it  has  inevitably  relapsed,  sooner  or  later, 


g  THE  THREE  AGES. 

into  the  evils  of  Paganism.  In  the  seventh  century  Moham- 
med undertook  to  establish  a  Monotheism  of  his  own 
make ;  but  he  revived  some  of  the  worst  errors  and  insti- 
tutions of  antiquity;  such  as  fatalism,  militarism,  poly- 
gamy, slavery,  and  the  pursuit  of  a  sensual  beatitude.  In 
modern  times  the  Liberals  have  rejected  the  Christian 
Church  and  State,  and  reconstructed  society,  so  far  as  in 
their  power,  on  rationalistic  principles.  But  superstition 
and  anarchy  have  been  the  results :  their  followers  have 
returned  to  the  idle  dreams  of  Pantheism  and  the  crying 
tyranny  and  lawlessness  of  Paganism  at  large.  They  are 
undermining  every  beneficent  institution,  and  have  already 
accomplished  more  ruin  than  was  wrought  by  the  Huns 
and  the  Vandals. 

Many  of  the  victims  of  these  false  teachers  pretend 
that  it  matters  little  what  a  man  believes,  provided  he 
lives  well."  But  thought  is  the  most  important  part  of 
human  life,  and  evil  thought  is  not  right  living.  False 
religions  and  irreligious  theories  cannot  lead  to  the  beati- 
tude of  Heaven,  or  even  secure  solid  happiness  on  earth. 
In  the  presence  of  the  degradation  that  has  always  and 
everywhere  been  the  result  of  separatism  and  unbelief,  it  is 
evident  that  the  greatest  of  all  misfortunes  is  the  loss  of 
the  true  religion,  and  that  the  greatest  of  all  crimes  are 
heresy,  schism  and  apostasy. 

Infidelity,  heresy  and  schism  are  the  most  grievous  ol 
scandals,  often  on  an  immense  scale,  involving  whole 
nations,  and  many  generations.  Those  sects  which  have 
broken  away  from  the  faith  and  unity  of  the  Church  during 
the  Mosaic  and  Christian  dispensations  have  in  conse- 
quence undergone,  though  in  a  lesser  degree,  the  same 
degeneration  that  may  be  observed  in  the  polytheistic 
systems  that  arose  by  alienation  from  the  faith  and  fellow- 
ship of  the  Holy  Patriarchs  in  the  primeval  ages.  In  fact, 
the  early  Fathers  were  in  the  habit  of  comparing  heresy 
to  the  sin  of  our  first  parents,  and  calling  it  the  second 
great  fall  of  man,  after  his  Redemption  by  Jesus  Christ. 


CHAPTER  SECOND. 
BLESSINGS  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

I  came  not  to  send  peace  but  the  sword.     MATTHEW  x,  34. 

I.  THE  CITY  OF  GOD  AND  THE  CITY  OF  SATAN. 

TJNBELIEVERS  pretend  that  Christianity  is  an  obstacle 
to  progress,  and  persist  in  harping  on  certain  local  or 
transitory  abuses  to  prove  their  assertion.  But  Leo  XIII. 
justly  appeals  to  the  facts  of  history  and  in  several  encyclicals 
shows  that  the  Church  is  the  most  potent  agency  of  civili- 
zation that  ever  came  into  this  world.  Indeed  its  era  is 
the  very  era  of  progress,  and  its  domains  form  the  paradise 
of  the  world.  Its  history  is  the  history  of  the  City  of  God 
set  up  over  against  the  City  of  Satan,  and  relates  the 
most  momentous  struggles  ever  waged  for  the  weal  or 
woe  of  mankind.  The  wars  for  the  political  empire  of  the 
world  were  only  of  national  or  temporary  interest,  whilst 
the  perennial  struggles  of  the  Church  of  God  against  the 
wicked  world  vitally  concern  the  interests  of  the  whole 
race. 

II.    RELIGIOUS,  SOCIAL  AND  LIBERAL  PROGRESS. 

In  the  course  of  centuries  Christianity  has  met  in  turn 
the  evil  powers  of  Paganism,  Barbarism  and  Liberalism. 
It  attacked  and  fought  each  of  them  for  centuries,  and  it 
is  replacing  the  last-named,  as  it  replaced  the  two  earlier 
forms  of  Satanic  aggression,  by  the  Heavenly  blessings  of 
true  religion,  civilization  and  liberty.  The  great  question 
has  never  been  which  people  would  rule  the  world;  but 
whether  Christ  could  conquer,  improve  and  guide  it. 
Could  He  convince  the  Pagans,  civilize  the  Barbarians, 
and  control  the  Liberals?  Was  He  a  God  adorable,  bene- 


10  THE  THREE  AGES. 

ficent  and  almighty  ?  The  Pagan  world  denied  His  Divinity, 
the  Barbarian  world  challenged  His  power,  and  the  Liberal 
world  rejected  His  authority.  But  they  have  all  been  com- 
pelled to  recognize  these  attributes,  not  only  by  the  force 
of  argument  but  also  by  the  convincing  logic  of  events. 

The  Ancient  Ages  (A.  D.  1—476)  witnessed  the  trial  of 
Christian  worship,  and  the  religious  progress  from  Jupiter 
to  Christ.  When  Jesus  Christ  claimed  the  adoration  of  the 
mankind,  Paganism  was  master  of  the  civilized  world.  It 
stood  up  for  its  idols  and  its  vices,  and  attempted  to 
smother  Christianity  in  the  cradle.  It  failed.  It  was  aban- 
doned by  all,  and  Jesus  was  recognized  as  the  Son  of  God. 

The  Middle  Ages  (A.  D.  476—1517)  witnessed  the  trial 
of  Christian  civilization,  and  formed  the  period  of  social 
progress  from  barbarism  to  civilization.  During  five 
hundred  years  the  Barbarians  rushed  into  and  over  the 
land  from  all  sides.  They  were  conquered.  The  fierce 
Northmen  were  civilized,  the  ferocious  Mongols  were  sub- 
dued and  absorbed,  and  the  fanatical  Mussulmen  were 
driven  back  into  the  Dark  Continent.  During  the  next  five 
hundred  years  wonderful  advance  was  made  in  the  arts 
of  peace. 

The  Modern  Ages  (A.  D.  1517—1900)  witnessed  the 
trial  of  the  Christian  authority  and  form  the  epoch  of 
progress  from  liberalism  to  liberty.  Protestants  and  Free- 
masons revolted  against  Christ  and  His  Church,  and 
attempted  to  make  their  own  religion  and  their  own  com- 
mandments. But  they  fell  into  scepticism  and  anarchy. 
The  Church  assures  the  fulness  of  true  and  reasonable 
liberty  by  upholding  faith  and  order  in  the  world. 

Our  Neo-Pagans,  when  they  do  not  wilfully  shut  their 
eyes  to  these  great  works,  are  prone  to  question  their 
utility  or  their  superiority.  Nevertheless,  these  remain  not 
only  the  greatest  achievments  of  our  era,  but  by  far  the 
most  important  part  of  the  development  of  mankind. 

Before  the  Incarnation  only  a  few  persons  enjoyed 
some  knowledge  of  God,  some  comforts  of  cililization  and 
some  personal  rights.  The  Christian  Church  extended 
these  blessings  to  all,  and  established  on  a  permanent 
footing  the  most  sublime  religion,  the  most  perfect  civiliz- 


BLESSINGS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  11 

ation,  and  the  most  reasonable  liberty,  that  were  possible 
under  the  circumstances ;  and  thus  secured  for  its  follow- 
ers, even  in  this  world,  a  happiness  unknown  to  other 
peoples.  If  Christendom  today  exercises  a  dominating 
influence  among  the  nations,  it  owes  this  to  Christ  and 
His  Holy  Church,  and  not  to  the  quarrelsome  sects  and 
the  dark  lodges,  which  date  only  from  yesterday  and 
produce  nothing  but  strife  and  desolation.  Even  for  our 
material  improvements  we  are  indebted  to  centuries  of 
Christian  life,  education  and  struggle.  Our  modern 
scientists  are  only  applying  and  extending  what  the 
monks,  the  doctors  and  the  crusaders  produced,  taught 
and  defended. 

Christianity  has  undergone  a  threefold  test,  in  its 
fundamental  principles  of  worship,  civilization  and  consti- 
tution. Three  ages  have  attacked  it,  and  each  in  turn  has 
acknowledged  its  supernatural  power,  and  ministered  to 
its  supremacy.  The  Early  Age  established  the  worship  of 
Christ,  as  perfect  God  and  perfect  Man;  the  Middle  Age 
spread  His  civilization  among  barbarians  who  had  spurned 
the  splendors  of  Greece;  and  the  Modern  Age  has  vindi- 
cated the  constitution  which  human  society  has  received 
from  Him.  The  Three  Ages  of  the  New  Dispensation  have 
not  only  promoted  the  highest  progress  of  mankind,  but 
also  form  three  unanswerable  proofs  of  the  Divinity  of 
Christ. 

There  was  no  less  a  labor  to  accomplish  than  to  over- 
throw the  whole  previously  existing  order  of  things,  and 
to  renew  the  face  of  the  earth.  All  the  forces  of  the  world 
and  of  Hell  combined  for  the  defence  of  these  evil  systems 
and  the  destruction  of  the  Christian  religion;  and  fierce 
struggles  and  terrific  persecutions  raged  for  centuries. 
Not  only  did  the  Church  successfully  resist  her  persecutors, 
but  she  overthrew  and  subjugated  them.  These  wonderful 
\vorks  she  accomplished  not  by  any  earthly  means,  but 
by  the  special  assistance  of  Almighty  God.  The  evils  were 
deeply  entrenched  in  the  passions  of  man,  fortified  by  the 
powers  of  the  times,  and  defended  by  the  malice  of  Satan. 
But  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  is  not  of  this  world ;  it  does 
not  insinuate  itself  through  the  passions,  nor  impose 


12  THE  THREE  AGES. 

itself  by  the  sword.  Who  then  established  that  strange 
institution  of  the  Nazarene?  Who  protected  it  against 
persecution?  Who  forced  it  upon  the  reluctant  world? 
Who  overcame  those  monster-evils,  of  which  the  philosoph- 
ers despaired  and  by  which  the  nations  were  perishing? 
Who  bestowed  upon  Christendom  those  unique  blessings 
that  make  it  the  paradise  of  the  earth?  The  Almighty 
alone  could  bring  about  such  a  tremendous  transformation ; 
and  His  hand  has  been  clearly  visible  in  thousands  of 
miraculous  events. 

It  is  in  vain  to  object  that  some  natural  causes  helped 
the  Church  to  work  these  momentous  changes-;  for  these 
did  not  enable  any  other  institution  to  produce  such 
effects.  They  were  simply  Providential  circumstances  of 
which  she  took  advantage  to  further  the  work  of  God. 

It  is  still  more  useless  to  adduce  any  sort  of  tem- 
porary, local  or  personal  abuses,  for  they  only  serve  to 
strengthen  the  proof  of  Divine  intervention.  Where  human 
means  or  agents  are  manifestly  inadequate,  the  effect  can 
only  be  ascribed  to  supernatural  causes.  Thus  the  three 
ages  of  Christianity  are  so  many  evident  stages  in  a 
supernatural  process,  and  the  whole  history  of  the  Church 
is  a  multiple  proof  of  her  Divinity. 

III.  A  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  THE  TRUTH. 

De  Maistre  has  said:  "For  three  hundred  years  history 
has  been  a  conspiracy  against  the  truth".  Protestantism, 
turning  its  back  upon  fifteen  hundred  years  of  vigorous 
and  live  Christianity,  perpetrated  a  wholesale  misrepre- 
sentation of  the  facts  of  history  in  the  enormous  volumes 
of  the  Centuriators  of  Magdeburg;  which  has  been  re- 
echoed and  continued  in  every  form  of  its  popular  literature 
ever  since.  Infidelity  openly  declares  that  all  weapons  are 
licit  in  fighting  the  great  enemy  the  Church  of  God. 
Voltaire  advised  his  followers  to  "lie  boldly,  for  something 
will  always  stick";  and  they  have  never  ceased  to  besmear 
the  Church  with  the  most  flagrant  calumnies.  The  Jews 
and  the  Freemasons  own  most  of  the  great  printing- 
presses  and  control  most  of  the  governmental  schools  of 
to-day,  in  nearly  every  land.  By  dint  of  incessant  slander, 


BLESSINGS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  13 

they  have  made  many  people  believe  that  the  Church  has 
done  little  really  grand  and  useful,  and  that  they  alone 
have  promoted  the  material  progress  of  our  times.  They 
have  flooded  the  world  with  cheap  anticatholic  books  and 
papers  which  find  their  way  into  almost  every  library, 
while  in  many  places  Catholic  literature  is  practically  out 
of  reach. 

Innumerable  times,  especially  since  the  development  of 
the  art  of  historical  criticism,  these  charges  have  been 
pulverized  by  the  most  erudite  and  impartial  historians ; 
but  they  have  rarely  been  honorably  retracted,  and  they 
still  pass  as  established  facts  in  a  great  many  secular 
publications.  The  Protestant  Doctor  Maitland,  in  his 
"Dark  Ages",  shows  how  stupid  and  unreliable  are  the 
assertions  made  by  Robertson  in  his  life  of  Charles  V., 
and  still  this  third-class  writer  is  sometimes  quoted  by 
respectable  Protestants  as  an  unquestionable  authority! 
Such  noble  Catholic  scholars  as  Lingard,  Janssen,  Pastor, 
and,  in  our  own  country,  Dr.  Reuben  Parsons,  have  done 
justice  to  these  slanders  by  simply  exposing  the  facts  and 
publishing  or  citing  authentic  contemporary  documents. 
Among  the  countless  Noncatholic  historians  of  modern 
times  who  have  boldly  proclaimed  the  beneficent  action  of 
the  Church  are  Engelhardt,  Hase,  Cobbett  and  Pusey. 
Many  men  of  true  science,  after  studying  for  many  years 
the  history  of  some  period  or  some  person,  have  been  so 
struck  by  the  evidences  of  Divine  life  which  they  found  in 
the  old  Church,  that  they  have  returned  with  eagerness 
to  her  bosom,  like  Schlegel,  Goerres,  Stolberg,  Haller,  Man- 
ning, Newman,  Marshall,  Rivington,  Brownson,  Hecker, 
Ives  and  M.  Snell.  Since  the  year  1830,  tens  of  thousands 
of  Englishmen  distinguished  for  their  learning,  wealth, 
rank,  or  official  dignity  have  been  converted  to  the  Catholic 
religion,  of  whom  thousands  were  previously  ministers  of 
the  Protestant  State  church,  and  many  others  were  doctors 
of  the  universities  of  Oxford  or  Cambridge.  In  1896  alone, 
in  response  to  the  appeal  of  Leo  XIII.,  for  the  return  to 
Holy  unity  of  all  who  called  themselves  Christians.  15,000 
persons  were  reconciled  in  the  English  dioceses.  But  the 
reports  of  conversions  are  hushed  up,  as  soon  as  possible 


14  THE  THREE  AGES. 

by  the  enemies  of  the  Church,  and  every  day  the  same  old 
calumnies  are  dished  up  anew.  The  great  Pontiff  now 
reigning  has  undertaken  to  restore  the  history  of  Christ- 
ianity to  its  former  position  of  honor.  In  1883  he  opened 
up  the  archives  of  the  Vatican,  and  invited  the  scientists 
of  the  whole  world  to  come  and  study  the  official  records 
of  the  Holy  Mother-Church  of  Rome ;  and  he  urges  the 
Christian  doctors  to  study  and  write  history  in  order  to 
"ably  confute  the  accusations  which  have  too  long  accum- 
ulated against  the  Church".  Notwithstanding  his  world- 
wide administration  he  has  taken  time  to  compose  popular 
treatises  to  show  that  the  Church  has  produced  the  highest 
achievements  among  men.  In  his  encyclical  of  1885  on 
"The  Christian  Constitution  of  States"  he  exhibits  the 
evidences,  the  benefactions  and  necessity  of  the  Christian 
religion.  He  says : 

''The  Church  secures  even  in  this  world  advantages  so  great  that  she 
could  do  no  more  even  had  she  been  founded  primarily  and  especially  to 
secure  prosperity  in  this  life.  There  are  proofs  of  great  number  and 
splendor,  as  for  example  the  verification  of  prophecy,  the  abundance  of 
miracles,  the  extremely  rapid  spread  of  the  faith  in  the  midst  of  its  enemies, 
and  in  spite  of  the  greatest  hindrances;  the  testimony  of  the  martyrs, 
and  the  like:  From  which  it  is  evident  that  it  is  the  true  religion,  which 
Jesus  Christ  Himself  instituted  and  then  intrusted  to  His  Church  to 
defend  and  spread  abroad. 

"If  Christian  Europe  subdued  barbarous  peoples  and  transferred  them 
from  a  savage  to  a  civilized  state,  from  superstition  to  the  truth ;  if  she 
victoriously  repelled  the  invasion  of  the  Mohammedans,  so  that  civili- 
zation retained  the  chief  power ;  if  she  has  won  for  the  people  true  and 
manifold  libertj';  if  she  has  most  wisely  established  many  institutions 
for  the  solace  of  wretchedness :  beyond  controversy  all  this  is  chiefly  due 
to  the  religion  under  whose  auspices  such  great  undertakings  were  com- 
menced and  with  whose  aid  they  were  perfected. 

"The  Church  rejects  immoderate  liberty,  which  results  in  license  or 
in  servitude;  she  cannot  approve  that  'liberty'  which  generates  a  con- 
tempt of  the  most  sacred  laws  of  God  and  puts  aside  the  obedience  due 
to  legitimate  power.  For  it  is  license  rather  than  liberty ;  and  it  is  most 
correctly  called  by  St.  Augustine  'the  liberty  of  perdition',  and  by  the 
Apostle  Peter  'a  cloak  for  malice'  (I  Peter  n,  16).  Indeed,  since  it  is 
contrary  to  reason,  it  is  true  servitude,  for  'whosoever  committetb  sin 
is  the  servant  of  sin  (John  vm,  34)'. 

"Above  all  the  Church  approves  a  liberty  worthy  of  man,  and  has 
never  ceased  striving  to  keep  it  steadfast  and  entire  among  the  people. 
In  very  truth  whatsoever  things  in  the  State  chiefly  avail  for  the  com- 


BLESSINGS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  15 

mon  safety;  whatsoever  have  been  usefully  instituted  against  the  license 
of  princes  and  in  view  of  all  the  interests  of  th*e  people;  whatsoever 
forbid  the  governmental  authority  to  intrude  in  municipal  or  domestic 
affairs ;  whatsoever  contribute  to  maintain  the  dignity  and  the  character 
of  man  by  preserving  the  equality  of  rights  in  individual  citizens :  of  all 
these  the  monuments  of  former  ages  witness  the  Catholic  Church  to  have 
always  been  the  author,  the  promoter  or  the  guardian." 

The  present  writer  has  attempted  to  give  the  outlines 
of  the  great  process  of  the  -uplifting  of  mankind  by  the 
Church  of  God.  His  aim  is  to  show  in  a  popular  way 
that  the  progress  caused  by  Christianity  is  greater  than 
that  resulting  from  any  other  instrumentality,  and  is  only 
explicable  on  supernatural  grounds.  His  method  is  to 
group  together  the  main  facts  of  every  age  and  to  present 
in  their  unity  their  principle  causes  and  effects.  He  will 
give  the  grand  spectacle  of  the  gradual  transformation  of 
the  earth;  without  stopping  at  the  sideshows  of  local 
abuses  to  which  the  Liberals  invite  us.  This  work  is  use- 
ful for  sermons,  lectures  and  discussions.  For  it  brings 
together  the  historical  facts  that  decided  the  destinies  of 
the  race  and  solves  by  striking  examples  the  great  prob- 
lems that  agitate  the  world  today.  It  throws  light  upon 
the  vital  questions  of  religion,  civilization  and  liberty  upon 
which  many  have  only  confuse  or  false  notions.  It  shows 
what  has  been  the  fate  of  all  the  separatists  of  the  past 
centuries  extinction.  " Every  plant  which  My  Father  hath 
not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up."  Matt.  XVI,  13.  Some 
try  to  connect  the  sects  and  to  patch  up  a  history  of 
Evangelical  Christianity;  as  if  separated  limbs  were  the 
main  body.  But  first  there  is  no  connection  whatsoever 
between  the  different  revolts  against  the  Church  of  Christ. 
Secondly,  where  there  is  any  similarity,  it  contains  some 
fatal  element  that  ruined  their  predecessors  and  is  bound 
to  ruin  them.  Most  all  the  heresies  of  our  day  have  been 
broached  and  abandoned  long  since,  and  smashed  up  in 
the  irresistible  march  of  true  Christianity  through  the 
course  of  time.  What  is  the  use  of  rehashing  heresies  that 
have  vanished  centuries  ago?  What  is  the  advantage  of 
sticking  to  dead  issues,  \vhich  the  most  powerful  empires 
of  the  world  could  not  and  cannot  keep  alive,  and  which 
are  doomed  to  perdition? 


EARLY  AGE 

A.  D.   J-476 

FROM  JUPITER  TO  CHRIST. 


L- 


EARLY  AGE 

A.  D.  J— 476 
FROM  JUPITER  TO  CHRIST. 


CHAPTER  THIRD. 
CHRISTIANITY  AGAINST  PAGANISM. 

The  Jews  require  signs  and  the  Greeks  seek  after  wisdom  ; 
but  we  preach  Jesus  crucified  :  unto  the  Jews  indeed  a  stumbling 
block,  and  unto  the  Gentiles  foolishness,  but  unto  them  that  are 
called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks',  Christ  the  power  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  of  God.  For  the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men, 
and  the  weakness  of  God  is  stronger  than  men.  I.  CORINTHIANS 
I,  22—25. 

I.     NATURE  OF  THE  CONTEST. 

INFIDELS  pretend  that  the  belief  in  the  Divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ  could  not  have  been  established  in  the  present 
enlightened  age.  But  Jesus  came  in  the  most  brilliant 
period  of  ancient  times ;  He  affirmed  His  Divinity  and 
claimed  the  adoration  of  mankind,  and  He  subdued  the 
civilized  world.  Could  He  not  have  subdued  as  successfully 
the  wavering  infidels  of  our  day  ? 

Faith  in  the  Divinity  of  Christ  was  reasonable  on 
account  of  His  great  miracles  and  His  heavenly  teachings. 
But  the  Christian  religion  was  repugnant  to  the  world  on 
account  of  its  profound  mysteries  and  its  austere  virtues. 
If  the  worship  of  Christ  had  only  signified  the  giving  Him 
of  a  place  among  the  gods,  and  the  holding  of  His  doctrines 
and  His  laws  as  a  free  system  of  philosophy,  which  could 
be  accepted  or  rejected  at  will,  it  would  have  been  easily 
established  in  the  world.  For  there  had  never  appeared  a 
greater  wonder-worker  and  a  loftier  philosopher  than  Jesus 


20  THE  THREE  AGES. 

of  Nazareth.  But  His  worship  implied  the  acceptance  of 
Him  as  the  only  true  God,  the  obedience  to  all  His  com- 
mandments, and  the  curbing  of  the  strongest  passions. 
Therefore  the  civilized  world  stood  up  to  defend  its  idols 
against  the  God  of  Calvary. 

The  ancient  nations  loved  the  gods  of  their  own 
making.  Deifying  their  ideals  and  their  lusts  they  made 
gods  of  their  great  men  and  even  of  their  passions.  They 
peopled  Mount  Olympus  with  a  court  of  divinities.  Jupiter 
was  the  god  of  power,  Mars  the  god  of  war,  Minerva  the 
goddess  of  reason,  Venus  the  goddess  of  love,  and  Pluto 
the  god  of  gold.  The  Romans  worshipped  their  arms,  the 
Greeks  their  science  and  the  Jews  the  riches  of  this  world. 
If  the  unfaithful  among  the  chosen  people  had  no  idol  on 
Mount  Olympus,  they  had  a  golden  calf  in  their  worldly 
ambition  and  greed.  If  the  Oriental  heretics  recognized 
Christ,  they  rejected  some  of  His  doctrines  and  put  their 
intellect  and  their  science  before  Him  and  made  their  god 
of  them.  There  is  only  a  difference  of  degree  between  the 
heretics  and  the  Pagans.  The  former  are  partial  unbe- 
lievers, and  the  latter  are  total  unbelievers.  Jesus  Christ 
was  a  stumbling-block  to  the  Jews  and  foolishness  to  the 
Gentiles.  One  after  another  they  stood  up  against  Him; 
they  crucified  His  person,  exterminated  His  followers  and 
altered  His  doctrines.  Naturally  speaking,  they  were  fully 
able  to  stifle  the  infant  Church  in  its  cradle.  But  what 
appeared  weakness  and  foolishness  to  men  was  the 
strength  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God.  Jesus  Christ 
overcame  His  enemies  and  brought  them  to  His  feet,  and 
He  was  recognized  by  the  civilized  world  as  the  God  of 
Heaven.  Thus  ended  the  struggle  between  the  false  gods 
of  Olympus  and  the  true  God  of  Calvary.  Thus  was 
established  the  worship  of  Christ  among  the  civilized 
nations. 

II.    THREEFOLD  TRIUMPH. 

1.     Triumph  over  Jewish  Prejudice. 

The  people  of  Israel  inherited  the  promises  of  a 
spiritual  Redeemer,  who  would  spread  the  true  religion 
over  the  world ;  and  for  centuries  they  had  longed  for  His 


CHRISTIANITY  AGAINST  PAGANISM.  21 

coming.  But  finally  they  became  worldly-minded  and 
wished  instead  a  political  leader,  to  deliver  them  from 
their  foreign  rulers  and  make  them  the  masters  of  the 
world.  Jesus  Christ  appeared  among  them  as  the  Incar- 
nation of  the  Eternal,  Almighty  and  All-wise  God.  He 
fulfilled  the  ancient  prophecies,  controlled  the  elements  of 
nature,  and  revealed  Heavenly  mysteries.  However,  the 
official  class  would  not  consider  His  prophetic  marks,  nor 
admit  His  striking  miracles,  nor  listen  to  His  superhuman 
teachings.  They  indignantly  rejected  the  humble  Prophet 
of  Nazareth,  and  nailed  Him  to  the  cross  between  two 
thieves.  But  His  blood  cried  for  vengeance.  Revolting 
against  the  Romans,  they  were  crushed  and  buried  beneath 
the  ruins  of  their  city  and  their  temple ;  or  sold  as  slaves 
over  all  the  Roman  empire. 

The  true  Israelites  had  recognized  the  Redeemer. 
Among  them  Jesus  chose  twelve  poor  fishermen  to  estab- 
lish His  Kingdom  on  earth.  They  went  to  the  end  of  the 
world  and  convinced  the  nations  of  His  Divinity ;  and  they 
created  for  Him  the  greatest  empire  that  ever  existed  on 
this  planet. 

2.     Triumph  over  Roman  Power. 

The  Roman  Empire  had  conquered  the  world,  and, 
when  it  awakened  to  the  presence  of  a  mysterious  rival, 
it  girded  itself  to  conquer  also  the  new  religion.  There 
never  was  a  more  unequal  contest.  On  the  one  side,  there 
was  a  crucified  Jew,  who  claimed  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Supreme  and  Only  God ;  on  the  other  there  was  a  haughty 
people  which  had  conquered  Judea  and  all  the  other 
civilized  countries.  On  the  one  side  there  was  the  infant 
Church,  whose  cradle  stood  in  the  very  domain  of  the 
enemy;  on  the  other  the  giant  of  the  colossal  empire 
attempting  to  smother  that  tender  infant  under  its  im- 
mense weight.  On  the  one  side  there  was  the  fisherman 
of  the  little  lake  of  Galilee,  trying  to  raise  his  chair  against 
the  throne  of  the  Caesars;  on  the  other  these  mighty 
rulers,  the  high  priests  of  the  gods  whom  all  the  nations 
adored,  using  all  their  power  to  maintain  the  imperial 
religion,  and  to  destroy  the  contemptible  sect  from  the 


22  THE  THREE  AGES. 

obscure  town  of  Nazareth.  The  struggle  lasted  three 
hundred  years,  and  ten  times  the  Church  seemed  wounded 
unto  death.  But  the  crucified  God  proved  stronger  than 
the  conquerors  of  the  world.  He  invaded  their  empire  and 
braved  their  violence.  He  drove  their  gods  from  the 
capitol  and  was  enthroned  at  last  upon  their  altars. 

3.     Triumph  over  Greek  Science. 

The  Greek  philosophers  constructed  an  original  and 
profound  philosophy  upon  human  reason,  with  the  aid  of 
a  few  surviving  fragments  of  the  Primeval  Tradition. 
Plato  discovered  the  creative  mind  of  God.  Aristotle  framed 
the  unchangeable  laws  Of  logic.  Epicurus  and  Zeno  devised 
ingenious  symstems  for  the  promotion  of  human  happi- 
ness. At  first  the  votaries  of  reason  scorned  the  Apostles 
of  faith.  But  soon  they  began  to  examine  and  scrutinize 
their  subline  doctrines  and  finally  thejr  accepted  them. 
The  Teacher  and  Reformer  dreamt  of  by  Socrates  was 
found,  and  the  children  of  the  philosophers  bowed  in  adora- 
tion before  him. 

But  there  were  also  sophists  or  philosophasters  who 
by  their  intellectual  arrogance  were  blinded  to  the  most 
exalted  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  these  men  attempted  to 
reduce  it  to  the  human  level  and  to  classify  the  Redeemer 
of  Mankind  among  the  gods  of  the  Pagans.  They  became 
the  stubborn  heretics  and  schismatics.  In  vain  did  they 
disfigure  the  Christian  doctrines  to  confuse  the  simple 
people ;  in  vain  did  they  gain  the  support  of  the  temporal 
princes  to  uphold  their  doctrines.  They  were  confounded 
by  the  science  of  the  Doctors,  condemned  by  the  authority 
of  the  Bishops,  and  crushed  by  the  retribution  of  Divine 
Providence.  They  only  succeeded  in  causing  a  closer  scru- 
tiny of  the  Christian  mysteries  and  their  exact  scientific 
definition.  Thus  Jesus  Christ  was  accepted  as  God  by 
the  most  philosophic  people  of  antiquity. 

When  the  gods  of  Olympus  had  been  routed,  Julian  the 
Apostate  (A.  D.  361)  made  a  last  struggle  in  their  behalf. 
He  concentrated  in  his  vindictive  policy  all  the  hostility  of 
the  Jews,  the  Romans  and  the  Greeks.  He  re-established 
the  Pagan  rites  in  all  their  pristine  splendor.  He  encouraged 


CHRISTIANITY  AGAINST  PAGANISM.  23 

and  embittered  the  disputes  between  the  Catholics  and  the 
heretics,  in  order  to  weaken  the  cause  of  Christianity.  He 
outlawed  all  the  Christians  by  denying  them  the  rights  of 
education,  property,  office  and  judicial  recourse.  In  order 
to  contradict  the  prophecy  of  Jesus  about  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem,  that  not  a  stone  would  remain  upon  a  stone, 
he  attempted  to  rebuild  the  temple ;  and  the  Jewish  sectaries 
hailed  him  as  another  Cyrus.  But  he  failed  signally.  He 
had  just  resolved  to  revive  the  bloody  persecutions  of  his 
predecessors  when  he  perished,  in  the  twentieth  month  of 
his  reign.  In  a  war  against  the  Persians,  he  was  mortally 
wounded  by  the  dart  of  an  unknown  soldier.  Flinging  a 
handful  of  his  blood  towards  heaven,  he  cried  out:  "Thou 
hast  conquered,  O  Galilean."  It  was  the  death  groan  of 
Paganism.  The  gods  of  Olympus  had  made  place  for  the 
God  of  Heaven ;  and  the  world  had  achieved  the  greatest 
religious  progress  ever  dreamed  of— the  step  from  Jupiter 
to  Jesus  Christ. 

III.     APPEAL  TO  THE  PHILOSOPHERS. 

The  modern  infidels  question  anew  what  was  demon- 
strated to,  and  accepted  by,  the  civilized  world  of  old. 
They  are  mostly  shallow  or  vicious  men,  prompted  by  the 
desire  of  evading  the  laws  of  Christ,  and  they  decide  the 
greatest  questions  according  to  the  dictates  of  prejudice, 
and  with  little  or  no  study.  From  these  noisy  sophists 
Leo  XIII  appeals  to  the  great  masters  of  thought,  the 
Greek  philosophers  (400  B.  C.).  the  Fathers  of  the  Church 
(400  A.  D.),  and  the  Scholastic  Doctors  (1300).  He  recurs 
to  Aristotle,  St.  Augustine  and  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  whose 
works  are  a  striking  condemnation  of  infidelity.  In  the 
second  year  of  his  pontificate  (1879)  he  recommended  the 
study  of  the  majestic  philosophy  of  St.  Thomas.  It  will  be 
profitable  to  give  a  few  extracts  from  that  Encyclical. 

Philosophy  leads  to  faith  and  is  guided  by  it.  The 
Apologists  proved  Christianity  from  the  philosophies  of 
old  and  converted  the  Pagans.  The  Schoolmen  reduced 
into  unity  and  system  the  results  of  the  labors  of  all  who 
had  gone  before  them.  The  greatest  among  them,  St. 
Thomas,  exalts  both  faith  and  reason,  and  is  at  once  the 


24  THE  THREE  AGES. 

glory  of  the  theologians  and  the  dread  of  the  philosoph- 
asters.  His  philosophy  should  be  assiduously  studied,  for 
the  refutation  of  falsehood  and  the  promotion  of  true 
science. 

" Philosophy  leads  the  way  to  the  true  faith;  and  quietty  prepares 

the  mind  of  the  student  for  the  reception  of  Revelation.  Hence  it  has  not 
been  inaptly  called  by  the  ancients  the  first  step  to  Christian  faith,  the 
prelude  and  aid  to  Christianity  and  the  teacher  of  the  Gospel " 

"Those  who  bring  to  the  study  of  philosoplvy  a  dutiful  submission  to 
the  Christian  faith  are  the  best  philosophers;  since  the  splendor  of  the 
Divine  truths  taken  into  the  mind  assists  the  intelligence;  and,  instead 
of  lessening  in  any  degree  its  dignity,  imparts  to  it  more  ability,  acumen 
and  solidity." 

"The  Fathers  and  Scholastics  point  out  with  sufficient  clearness  and 
force  the  foundation  of  faith,  its  Divine  origin,  its  unshaken  truth,  the 
arguments  on  which  it  rests,  the  benefits  it  has  conferred  on  the  human 
race,  and  its  perfect  harmony  with  reason,  to  bend  the  most  unwilling 
and  most  refractory  mind  to  its  yoke." 

"Among  all  the  Apologists,  St.  Augustine  appears  to  have  deservedly 
carried  off  the  palm  of  excellence,  as  a  man  of  unusually  powerful  endow- 
ments; and,  skilled  in  the  fullness  of  sacred  science,  he  warred  mightily 
against  all  the  errors  of  his  time  with  a  faith  and  learning  equally 
profound." 

"The  very  characteristics  which  cause  the  Scholastic  philosophy  to 
be  so  dreadfully  feared  by  the  enemies  of  the  truth  are  that  fitness  of 
mutual  connection  of  things  among  themselves,  that  cohesion  of  causes, 
that  order  and  plan,  as  of  soldiers  in  battle  array,  that  solidity  of 
argument,  those  keen  controversies  and  pellucid  distinctions  and  defini- 
tions, by  which  truth  is  distinguished  from  error,  and  before  which  the 
lies  of  centuries,  covered  up  under  countless  cunning  devices,  are  as  a 
vesture  rent  in  pieces,  exposed  and  laid  bare." 

"As  their  prince  and  master  St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas  far  outshines  all 
the  rest  of  the  Scholastic  Doctors,  He  nourished  like  the  sun  the  whole 
universe  with  the  warmth  of  his  virtue,  and  filled  it  with  the  lustre  of 
his  learning.  There  is  no  point  in  philosophy  that  he  has  not  handled 
fully  and  thoroughly.  He  warred  single-handed  against  all  the  errors  of 
former  ages,  and  supplied  the  most  invincible  weapons  to  scatter  to  the 
winds  all  those  who  might  in  the  course  of  time  spring  up  in  the  future." 

"Reason  was  borne  by  the  wings  of  Thomas  so  near  the  pinnacle  of 
human  perfection,  that  it  dare  scarcely  mount  any  higher;  while  faith 
cannot  be  honored  by  reason  with  any  more  valid  arguments  in  its  favor 
than  it  has  secured  through  the  instrumentality  of  Thomas " 


CHAPTER  FOURTH. 
DIVINITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  • 

To  the  King  of  Ages,  Immortal  and  Invisible,  the  Only  God, 
be  honor  and  glory  forever  and  ever.   Amen.     1.  TIMOTHY  i,  17. 

I.    THE  CENTRAL  FIGURE  OF  HISTORY. 

^"Phere  is  one  person  who  compels  the  attention  of  every 
man.  He  is  the  central  figure  of  history.  He  is  the  key 
to  the  greatest  events  of  the  past.  His  coming  was  heralded 
thousands  of  years  beforehand.  His  presence  was  hailed 
by  the  elements  of  nature,  obeying  His  orders.  His  work 
has  caused  all  the  highest  progress  of  our  race.  That 
unique  person  was  not  only  a  man,  but  a  God-Man,  sent 
from  Heaven  to  save  mankind,  and  to  uplift  and  enlighten 
it.  He  proclaimed  His  Divinity  before  the  jealous  Jews  and 
He  died  in  testimony  to  His  teachings.  The  Almighty  does 
not  recommend  an  impostor  centuries  in  advance.  The 
elements  do  not  tremble  in  awe,  nor  change  their  invari- 
able laws,  at  the  word  of  a  simple  mortal.  The  most 
distant  and  hostile  nations  have  never  willingly  followed 
one  and  the  same  leader,  especially  in  the  steep  and  narrow 
path  of  virtue. 

Jesus  is  the  Eternal,  the  Almighty,  and  the  All-good. 
The  world  expected  Him  anxiously,  nature  obeyed  His 
word,  and  ever  since  His  coming  mankind  adores  Him  as 
God.  He  who  does  not  study  this  predominant  personality 
remains  ignorant  of  the  greatest  factor  of  history. 

II.    THE  DESIRED  OF  THE  NATIONS. 

Immediately  after  the  fall  of  our  first  parents,  God 
promised  to  mankind  a  Redeemer.  This  promise  was  still 
remembered  in  the  religions  of  all  tribes  and  nations,  after 
they  fell  away  into  Pagan  separatism.  Later  on  He  renewed 


26  THE  THREE  AGES. 

and  accentuated  the  promise,  and  instituted  the  Mosaic 
rites  and  institutions  to  preserve  it  among  men  and  pre- 
figure the  Universal  Church  to  be  founded  by  the  Messias. 
The  Old  Testament  types  and  prophecies  of  the  Redeemer 
are  so  clear  and  manifold  that  they  are  unmistakable. 
His  birth,  life,  preaching,  passion,  death,  resurrection  and 
universal  reign  are  graphically  portrayed.  David  and  Isaiah 
glowingly  describe  Him  as  God,  and  St.  Paul  proves  to 
the  Heorews  of  his  day  how  clearly  a  Divine  Saviour  had 
been  promised.  The  predictions  were  complete  five  hundred 
years  before  Christ.  Drach,the  famous  converted  rabbi,  says: 

"The  prophecies  taken  in  their  entirety  form  a  most  complete  picture. 
The  oldest  prophecies  give  the  broad  outlines;  as  time  passes,  others  fill 
in  the  features  left  imperfect  by  their  predecessors;  the  more  they 
approach  the  event  the  more  they  enliven  their  colors.  When  the  portrait 
is  complete,  the  artists  disappear.  The  last  (Malachias)  when  he  retires 
indicates  the  person  who  must  lift  up  the  veil  (John  the  Baptist)." 

When  the  prophecies  had  been  made  in  full,  the  Jews 
were  thrown  in  contact  with  foreign  nations.  It  was  the 
age  of  the  great  reformers  Lycurgus,  Cyrus,  Buddha,  Con- 
fucius, Lao  Tse,  and,  some  would  add,  Zoroaster,  some  of 
whom  seem  to  have  actually  taken  their  best  institutions 
from  the  Bible.  The  preciser  prophecies  of  the  seers  of 
Israel  spread  everywhere,  and  revived  the  primitive  tradi- 
tions. Thence  arose  a  general  expectation  of  the  Messias 
just  before  His  birth.  The  Hindus  looked  for  a  great 
avatar  of  Vishnu,  the  Persians  for  the  virgin-birth  of  the 
Savior  whom  Zoroaster  had  foretold,  and  the  Chinese  for 
the  great  saint  who  alone  can  oifer  a  holocaust  worthy 
of  the  majesty  of  Heaven.  The  Romans  had  heard  that 
"in  these  times  the  East  would  prevail  and  men  coming 
from  Judea  would  overpower  the  world".  Jesus  came  and 
fulfilled  every  Scripture.  He  declared  Himself  God  and 
claimed  the  adoration  of  mankind.  But  God  alone  foresees 
the  future,  and  He  would  certainly  not  foretell  anything 
in  behalf  of  an  impostor;  consequently  Jesus  is  God,  as  He 
claimed  to  be. 

III.     THE  LORD  OF  NATURE. 

All  four  Gospels  show  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but 
St.  John  wrote  especially  to  demonstrate  it  against  the 


DIVINITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  27 

rising  heretics.  The  Evangelists  narrate  how  Heaven  and 
earth,  life  and  death,  rendered  homage  to  Christ  as  to 
their  Sovereign  Lord. 

When  Jesus  was  born  in  the  stable  of  Bethlehem  the 
Lord  moved  Heaven  and  earth  to  bring  Him  His  first 
adorers,  and  to  protect  Him  against  the  cruelty  of  Herod. 
A  star  summoned  the  wise  men  of  the  East.  Angels  called 
the  shepherds ;  and  it  was  they  who  warned  Joseph  and 
Mary  of  the  murderous  order  of  Herod  and  told  them  to 
flee  and  save  the  Infant  in  Egypt.  God  Himself  spoke 
distinctly  three  times  to  proclaim  Jesus  His  Son :  at  His 
baptism  in  the  Jordan  (Matt,  iii,  17),  at  His  glorification 
on  Tabor  (Matt,  xvii,  5),  and  during  His  great  contest 
in  the  temple  (John,  xii,  28). 

All  nature  mourned  at  His  death.  The  sun  was  darkened 
and  hid  his  face,  the  earth  quaked  and  sighed;  the  graves 
were  opened  and  the  dead  appeared ;  and  the  veil  of  the 
temple  was  rent  from  top  to  bottom.  The  Roman  officer 
exclaimed:  "Indeed  this  was  the  Son  of  God".  These  pro- 
digies extended  over  all  the  earth.  The  Emperor  Tiberius 
ordered  an  inquiry  into  all  that  happened  at  the  death  of 
Jesus,  and  Tertullian  cites  the  official  reports  as  testimony 
to  his  Divinity.  The  Pagan  writer  Plutarch  relates  that 
in  the  island  of  Paxas  a  voice  was  heard,  saying:  "The 
great  Pan  is  dead".  Pan  is  a  Greek  word  meaning  the 
All  the  Supreme  Being.  Dionysius  of  Athens  was  so  struck 
by  the  phenomena  of  nature  on  that  occasion  that  he 
exclaimed : 

"Either  the  Author  of  Nature  is  suffering  or  the  world 
is  perishing." 

Jesus  acted  as  the  absolute  Master  of  the  earth,  and 
performed  miracles  as  easily  as  any  other  actions.  At  His 
word  water  was  changed  into  wine,  bread  was  multiplied, 
the  storm  was  calmed,  health  was  restored  to  the  sick, 
and  life  was  given  back  to  the  dead.  It  was  not  only  a 
few  times  that  Jesus  operated  miracles,  but  so  often  that 
He  was  continually  surrounded  by  crowds  of  people  seeking 
relief.  The  Gospels  give  the  details  of  about  thirtyeight  of 
His  miracles,  including  three  restorations  of  the  dead  to 
life,  two  multiplications  of  bread,  etc. 


28  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  greatest  of  all  His  miracles  was  His  Resurrection 
from  the  grave.  Joseph  of  Arimathea  had  buried  Jesus  in 
his  own  new  tomb,  hewn  in  rock,  and  had  rolled  a  huge 
stone  to  the  door  of  the  monument.  The  high  priests  had 
put  a  seal  on  the  sepulchre  and  placed  guards  before  it, 
lest  His  disciples  should  steal  His  body  and  pretend  that 
he  had  arisen.  On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  Jesus  rose 
triumphant  from  His  grave.  One  of  His  angelic  ministers 
frightened  the  soldiers  away.  The  hostile  priests  held  coun- 
sel with  the  ancients,  and  gave  a  great  sum  of  money  to 
the  soldiers,  instructing  them  to  say:  "His  disciples  came 
by  night  and  stole  the  body  while  we  were  asleep."  St. 
Augustine  remarks : 

"This  lie  is  a  device  of  sleeping  persons.  If  the  guards  were  asleep, 
how  could  they  know  what  happened?  If  awake,  why  did  they  not 
prevent  the  stealing  of  the  body?" 

Christ  remained  forty  days  on  earth  instructing  His 
disciples  and  organizing  His  spiritual  kingdom,  and  then 
ascended  gloriously  into  Heaven  before  the  eyes  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  disciples,  whom  He  had  prepared  and 
commissioned  to  bear  witness  to  His  Resurrection  and  pro- 
claim His  Gospel  to  the  utmost  boundaries  of  the  world. 
Ten  days  later  He  sent  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  His  followers : 
that  very  day  Peter  publicly  proclaimed  His  Divinity,  3000 
people  were  converted  and  the  Church  was  definitively 
founded. 

IV.    THE  RULER  OF  MANKIND. 

On  the  island  of  St.  Helena,  Napoleon  frequently  asserted 
the  Divinity  of  Christ  in  the  presence  of  his  doubting 
followers.  One  evening  he  said  to  General  Bertrand  that 
He  who  had  not  only  won  to  Himself,  but  continued  to 
rule,  through  so  many  centuries,  the  best  part  of  man- 
kind, without  worldly  means,  could  not  have  been  a 
mere  man. 

Having  only  a  few  poor  ignorant  disciples,  Jesus  is  put  to  death, 
and  dies  accursed  by  the  Jewish  priests,  despised  by  His  own  nation, 
and  abandoned  by  His  very  Apostles.  But  He  rises  from  the  dead,  and 
His  Apostles  go  forth  to  conquer  the  world.  The  God-Man's  instrument 
of  torture  is  their  weapon.  They  carry  the  cross  from  nation  to 
nation,  and  their  faith  spreads  like  wildfire.  Their  cry  is:  ''Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  died  for  the  salvation  of  mankind."  What  a  storm  those 


DIVINITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  29 

simple  words  raise  up  around  the  standard  of  the  God-Man!  It  is  not 
one  day,  nor  one  battle,  nor  one  human  life  that  decides  the  contest. 
It  is  a  persevering  war,  a  long  struggle  of  three  hundred  years,  com- 
menced by  the  Apostles,  and  carried  on  under  their  spiritual  heirs  by 
many  successive  generations  of  Christians.  The  first  thirty  Bishops  who 
succeed  to  the  supremacy  of  St.  Peter  are  all  martyred  like  himself. 
Thus  for  three  centuries  the  Roman  See  is  a  scaffold  which  infallibly 
brings  death  to  its  occupants.  During  that  long  period  the  other  Bishops 
have  no  easier  lot.  In  this  struggle  all  the  earthly  powers  are  on  one 
side,  and  on  the  other  there  are  no  arms,  but  only  a  spiritual  society  of 
men  without  any  other  bond  than  a  common  faith  in  the  Divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  a  common  allegiance  to  Him. 

Either  admit  or  reject  the  miracles.  If  you  admit  them,  you  must 
admit  the  miraculous  propagation  of  Christianity  and  its  Divine  charac- 
ter, because  God  could  not  allow  the  whole  world  to  be  deceived  in  His 
name  by  false  miracles.  If  you  reject  them  you  must,  as  St.  Augustine 
says,  explain  the  greatest  of  all  miracles:  the  conversion  of  the  world 
without  miracles.  Christ  expects  everything  from  his  death.  He  shows 
that  He  is  the  Son  of  the  Eternal  by  His  contempt  of  time.  The  horizon 
of  His  empire  is  expanded  and  prolonged  indefinitely.  Christ  alone  rules 
beyond  death,  and  the  past  and  the  future  equally  belong  to  Him,  You 
talk  of  the  conquests  of  Caesar  and  Alexander,  and  of  the  enthusiasm 
they  aroused  in  the  hearts  of  their  soldiers.  But  how  many  years  did 
the  empire  of  Caesar  subsist  ?  How  long  did  the  zeal  of  the  soldiers 
of  Alexander  last  ?  Did  it  survive  beyond  the  grave  ?  Can  you  imagine 
a  dead  person  making  conquests,  with  an  army  faithful  and  devoted 
to  his  memory  ?  Can  you  imagine  a  ghost  who  has  soldier  without 
pay  or  worldly  hope,  and  who  inspires  them  to  endure  with  patience 
and  joy  all  kinds  of  suffering  ?  Can  you  conceive  Caesar  as  eternal 
emperor  of  the  senate,  from  his  mausoleum  governing  the  empire  and 
presiding  over  the  destinies  of  Rome  ? 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  invasion  and  conquest  of  the  world  by  the 
Christian  religion.  Nations  pass,  thrones  fall,  empires  disintegrate,  but 
the  Church  endures.  What  is  the  arm  that  for  eighteen  hundred  years 
has  preserved  her  from  all  the  frightful  storms  that  have  threatened  to 
engulf  her  ? 

The  Christian  doctrine  presents  itself  with  the  precision  and  the  clear- 
ness of  the  algebra;  you  must  admire  in  it  the  connection  and  unity  of 
a  science.  The  dogmas  are  as  closely  connected  as  the  welded  links  of 
one  and  the  same  chain.  I  admit  that  the  life  of  Christ  from  one  end 
to  the  other  is  quite  a  mysterious  texture;  but  it  solves  all  other 
difficulties.  Reject  it  and  the  world  is  a  riddle.  Admit  it  and  you  have 
an  admirable  solution  of  the  history  of  the  human  race. 

The  Gospel  is  an  original  book,  unlike  all  other  books,  immensely 
different  from  anything  which  preceded  or  followed  it.  Its  mysteries  are 
the  secret  of  Christ  alone.  It  comes  from  a  superhuman  mind.  There  is 
there  a  profound  originality,  which  creates  a  series  of  words  and  maxims 
before  unknown. 


30  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  Gospel  contains  a  secret  virtue,  a  strange  efficacy,  a  warmth 
which  acts  on  the  intellect  and  delights  the  heart.  The  Gospel  is  not  a 
mere  book,  but  a  living  being.  In  meditating  on  it  you  experience  what 
you  ieel  in  the  contemplation  of  the  sky.  You  can  find  nowhere  else  such 
a  series  of  beautiful  ideas  and  moral  principles,  which  pass  along  like 
the  batallions  of  the  celestial  hosts,  and  which  produce  in  your  soul  the 
same  sentiments  you  feel  in  contemplating  on  a  beautiful  summer  night 
the  immense  canopy  of  heaven  brightened  by  the  splendor  of  the  stars. 
I  search  in  vain  in  history  to  find  anything  equal  to  Jesus  Christ  and 
His  Gospel. 

Without  contradiction  the  greatest  mystery  of  Christ  is  the  reign  of 
charity.  Christ  alone  conquered  the  love  of  men ;  and  how  ?  By  a  miracle 
which  surpasses  all  miracles.  He  wishes  the  love  of  men.  That  is  what 
is  most  difficult  to  obtain  in  this  world ;  what  a  wise  man  asks  in  vain 
of  a  few  friends,  a  father  of  his  children,  a  wife  of  her  husband.  The 
heart— that  is  what  He  wants.  He  absolutely  requires  it,  and  He  fully 
succeeds  in  obtaining  it.  Hence  I  deduce  His  Divinity.  Alexander,  Caesar, 
Hannibal,  Louis  XIV,  with  all  their  great  genius,  could  not  secure  love. 
They  conquered  the  world ;  they  could  not  succeed  in  making  friends. 
Perhaps  I  am  today  the  only  one  who  loves  Caesar,  Alexander,  Hannibal. 
We  love  our  children;  we  obey  the  instinct  of  nature  and  the  will  of 
God,  and  fulfill  an  obligation  which  the  animals  themselves  acknowledge. 
But  how  many  children  remain  insensible  to  our  love!  Our  children  may 
remember  us  when  they  are  spending  our  fortune,  but  our  grandchildren 
will  hardly  know  that  we  existed.  How  could  we  fail  to  recognize  in 
this  miracle  of  His  will,  the  Word,  the  Creator  of  the  universe? 

I  impassioned  multitudes  who  died  for  me,  but  they  wanted  my 
presence,  the  magnetism  of  my  look,  my  accent,  my  voice.  Thus  I  en- 
kindled the  sacred  flames  in  their  hearts.  But  I  have  not  the  secret  of 
perpetuating  my  name  and  my  love,  and  the  power  to  work  miracles 
without  matter.  Now  that  I  am  at  St.  Helena,  now  that  I  am  alone 
and  nailed  to  this  rock,  who  fights  and  conquers  empires  for  me  ?  Where 
are  the  courtiers  of  my  misfortune  ?  Who  thinks  of  me  ?  Who  moves  for 
me  in  Europe?  Who  remains  faithful  to  me?  I  die  before  my  time,  and 
my  body  will  be  returned  to  the  earth  to  become  the  food  of  worms — 
that  is  the  fast  approaching  fate  of  the  great  Napoleon !  What  an  abyss 
between  my  profound  misery  and  the  perpetual  reign  of  Christ,  beloved, 
adored  and  alive  in  the  whole  universe!  To  me  death  will  bring  oblivion. 
To  Him  it  has  brought  true  life.  Therefore  the  death  of  Christ  is  the 
death  of  a  God-Man. 

There  is  no  God  in  Heaven  if  a  man  has  been  able  to  conceive  and 
to  carry  out  with  full  success  the  gigantic  idea  of  stealing  for  himself 
the  supreme  worship  by  usurping  the  name  of  God.  Jesus  is  the  only 
one  who  dared  do  it.  He  is  the  only  one  who  clearly  and  imperturbably 
affirmed  of  himself,  ''I  am  God". 

History  does  not  tell  of  any  other  individual  who  qualifies  himself 
with  the  title  of  God  in  its  absolute  sense.  A  Jew  whose  historical 
existence  is  better  proved  than  that  of  any  one  else  of  his  time,  the  son 


DIVINITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  31 

of  a  carpenter — he  alone,  of  all  others,  gives  himself  out  as  God,  the 
Supreme  Being,  the  Creator  of  all  things !  He  claims  Divine  adoration ; 
He  builds  up  His  worship  by  His  own  hands,  not  with  brick,  but  with 
men.  We  wonder  at  the  conquests  of  Alexander.  Behold  here  a  conqueror 
who  confiscates  for  his  own  benefit,  who  unites  and  incorporates  with 
Himself,  not  one  nation,  but  the  whole  human  race.  What  a  wonder! 
the  human  soul,  with  all  its  faculties,  has  become  an  annex  to  the 
existence  of  Christ ! 


CHAPTER  FIFTH. 
UNWILLING   WITNESSES. 

I  have  great  sadness  and  continual  sorrow  in  my  heart. 
For  I  would  wish  to  suffer  everything  for  my  brethren,  who  are 
my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh,  who  are  Israelites,  to  whom 
belongeth  the  adoption  as  of  children,  and  the  glory,  and  the 
testament,  and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  service  of  God, 
and  the  promises ;  whose  are  the  fathers,  and  of  whom  is  Christ 
according  to  the  flesh,  Who  is  over  -all  things  God  blessed  for- 
ever. Amen.  ROMANS  ix,  2 — 5. 

I.    SAD  FALL  OF  THE  JEWISH  NATION. 

/~\NE  cannot  consider  the  fall  of  the  Jewish  nation  with- 
out participating  in  the  sorrow  and  sadness  of  St.  Paul, 
and  trembling  for  the  Christian  nations  which  prevaricate 
against  Jesus  Christ.  Selected  among  all  others  to  intro- 
duce the  Messias  to  the  world,  the  Jews  turned  against 
Him  and  His  followers  and  became  outcasts  and  vagabonds 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  people  of  Judea  recognized 
Christ  and  thronged  around  Him,  but  the  leaders  refused 
to  recognize  Him  and  put  Him  to  death,  thus  drawing 
down  most  fearful  punishment  upon  their  posterity.  What 
a  terrible  example  for  the  apostate  Christians!  What  a 
striking  contrast  between  the  fallen  nation  and  the 
glorious  Apostles,  with  their  immortal  Church ! 

II.     ELECTION  OF  A  PEOPLE. 

When  the  great  truths  of  the  Creation,  the  Fall  and 
the  Redemption  were  being  lost  in  the  dark  night  of 
Paganism,  God  selected  a  nation  to  preserve  them  intact, 
and  to  spread  them  anew  among  the  Gentiles  in  the  fulness 
of  time,  Abraham  was  its  father  (B.  C.  1921);  Moses  its 
lawgiver  (B.  C.  1491);  and  judges,  kings  and  priest  its 
leaders,  each  in  turn  for  five  centuries. 


UNWILLING  WITNESSES.  33 

The  Lord  prepared  the  Hebrews  for  their  mission  in  a 
natural  as  well  as  a  supernatural  way.  He  endowed  them 
with  a  vitality  and  an  endurance  which  was  capable  of 
withstanding  the  greatest  stress,  and  he  enriched  them 
with  a  genius  and  an  activity  which  would  secure  them 
prominence  everywhere.  He  gave  them  the  most  precious 
revelations  and  the  most  flattering  promises.  In  the  Book 
of  Genesis  and  the  Tables  of  the  Decalogue  he  expressed 
the  fundamental  truths  of  all  religion  and  all  morality. 
He  promised  that  the  Redeemer  would  come  from  their 
own  race,  and  He  destined  them  to  extend  His  sway  to 
all  nations.  By  the  admirable  legislation  of  Moses,  he 
united  them  intimately  to  Himself,  and  bound  them  closely 
together  for  all  future  generations.  The  glory  of  the 
Twelve  Fishermen,  who  spread  the  Gospel  over  the  world, 
and  of  the  French  who  in  their  days  of  faith  performed 
the  work  of  works  of  God  "Gesta  Dei  per  Francos",  and 
of  the  Italians  who  possess  the  Vicars  of  Christ  in  their 
midst,  to  say  nothing  of  other  supernatural  achievements 
of  the  true  seed  of  Abraham,  show  to  what  pre-eminence 
Israel  was  called. 

Finally  God  kept  the  future  Messias  continually  before 
the  eyes  of  the  chosen  people  by  the  striking  types  of  Old 
Testament  history  and  ritual,  and  the  precise  predictions 
of  the  Prophets.  Full  details  were  given  concerning  His 
birth,  life,  death,  resurrection,  ascension,  triumph  over  His 
enemies,  and  universal  and  everlasting  reign.  Five  hundred 
years  before  His  coming  the  Prophets  had  so  well  depicted 
the  portrait  of  Jesus,  that  it  should  have  been  unmistakable 
to  any  man  without  prejudice. 

He  was  to  be  the  son  of  Abraham  (Genesis  xii,  3)  and 
of  David  (Jeremias  xxx,  15);  miraculously  born  of  a  virgin 
(Isaias  vii,  14)  in  the  city  of  Bethlehem  (Micheas  v,  2), 
490  years  after  the  edict  for  the  reconstruction  of  the 
temple  (Daniel  ix,  25).  He  was  to  preach  admirably  in 
the  mountains  and  in  Zion  (Isaias  Ixi,  xxi,  Ixi,  xlii  and  Ixi); 
by  Him  the  eyes  of  the  blind  were  to  be  opened,  and  the 
ears  of  the  deaf  unstopped.  At  His  word  the  lame  man 
was  to  leap  as  a  hart  and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  be 
made  free  (xxxi  and  xl). 

3 


34  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Zacharias  described  His  triumphant  entry  into  Jerusa- 
lem (ix,  9),  the  treason  of  Judas  (xi,  12,  13),  the  flight  of 
the  Apostles,  the  wounds  of  His  hands  and  feet  (xiii,  6,  7), 
and  His  ascension  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  (xiv,  4). 
Jeremias  laments  the  sufferings  of  Jesus.  Isaias  gives  *a 
more  touching  description  of  the  Passion  than  the  Evan- 
gelists themselves.  He  says :  "He  hath  borne  our  infirmities 
and  carried  our  sorrows,  and  we  have  thought  Him  as  it 
were  a  leper,  and  as  one  stricken  of  God  and  afflicted. 
But  he  was  wounded  for  our  iniquities,  He  was  bruised 
for  our  sins  (Hii,  5)."  David  describes  the  scenes  of  Calvary 
in  the  twenty  first  psalm,  and  the  Ascension  in  psalms  Ixvi 
and  Ixvii.  Osee  predicts  the  resurrection  on  the  third 
day  (vi,  3).  Our  Lord's  judgement  of  the  earth  and  eternal 
reign  in  heaven  is  referred  to  in  psalms  ii  and  cix,  and  in 
Zacharias  xiv.  Isaias  predicts  that  the  Gospel  will  be 
preached  first  in  Zion  (chapter  i,  26,  27)  and  afterwards 
proclaimed  by  faithful  witnesses  throughout  the  world 
(xl,  3—17,  xliv,  3,  26,  and  Ixvi,  19).  A  covenant  will 
unite  all  peoples  (lix,  19 — 21,  Ixii,  2,  Ixvi,  23  and  Jeremias 
xxxii,  37 — 41),  and  an  acceptable  Sacrifice  will  be  offered 
in  every  place  (Malachias  i,  11),  by  priests  from  every 
nation  (Isaias  Ixvi,  21). 

The  obstinacy  and  ruin  of  the  carnal  Jews  was  no  less 
clearly  foretold  (Isaias  Ivii).  The  prophecies  will  be  for 
them  like  a  sealed  book  (Isaias  xxix,  10 — 14).  But  they 
will  be  rejected,  punished  and  scattered '.  They  will  be 
without  a  king  or  a  leader;  without  a  sacrifice  or  an 
altar  (Osee  iii,  4). 

III.    UNIQUE  CRIME   AND    INCOMPARABLE    PUNISHMENT. 

Jesus  came  at  the  appointed  time,  literally  fulfilled  all 
the  prophecies,  and  proved  that  every  one  of  them  was 
accomplished  in  His  person.  St.  Matthew  wrote  his  Gospel 
to  show  this  fulfilment  to  the  Jews. 

Not  only  did  Jesus  appear  as  the  messenger  of  God, 
but  as  God  Himself.  In  His  own  name,  He  commanded 
the  elements  and  revealed  Divine  mysteries.  He  Himself 
appealed  to  His  miracles  as  demonstrations  of  His  Divinity, 


UNWILLING  WITNESSES.  35 

as  St.  John  shows  in  His  Gospel.  Many  of  the  people 
acknowledged  the  Savior  and  thronged  around  Him.  But 
most  of  their  leaders  rejected  Him,  without  examining  His 
claims,  for,  having  lost  their  religious  spirit  and  become 
lilce  to  the  Gentiles,  they  could  not  bear  the  humble  Prophet 
of  Nazareth.  They  looked  for  power  and  riches,  not  for 
religion  and  virtue.  They  wished  for  a  hero  who  would 
make  them  universal  conquerors.  Seeing  in  Jesus  a  teacher 
who  would  destroy  their  hopes,  they  publicly  rejected  Him 
and  crucified  Him  as  an  impostor.  The  refusal  of  the 
worldly-minded  element  among  the  Jews  to  recognize  the 
Messias  does  not  disprove  the  Scriptures,  but  is  rather  a 
confirmation  of  their  distinct  predictions.  Moreover,  the 
true  Israel  consisted  of  that  remnant  of  men  of  good  will, 
who  adhered  to  the  Messias  for  Whom  all  the  law  and 
the  promises  were  a  preparation.  At  the  head  of  the 
faithful  sons  of  the  covenant  stood  the  Twelve  Fishermen 
who  established  the  spiritual  reign  of  the  King  of  Israel 
over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth.  The  hostility  of  the 
sectarian  Jews  left  the  texts  of  the  prophecies  in  the  hands 
of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  Jesus,  without  any  possibility 
of  alteration  in  His  favor.  That  secured  their  authenticity 
and  integrity  in  the  eyes  of  the  unbelieving  world,  insured 
their  investigation,  and  gave  them  the  irrefragable  value 
of  unwilling  testimonies  of  the  enemy.  The  world  is  sure 
to  have  the  genuine  Scriptures  in  those  which  the  Apostles 
possessed  as  Jews  and  carried  through  the  earth  as  mes- 
sengers of  Christ. 

The  Deicide  of  the  Jews  is  a  crime  which  stands  alone 
in  history,  both  for  its  heinousness  and  its  punishment. 
It  never  had  a  parallel  in  the  past,  and  it  can  never  have 
one  in  the  future.  God  visited  with  His  vengeance  the  very 
generation  which  had  crucified  His  Divine  Son.  Thirty  three 
years  after  His  death  the  sectarian  Jews  revolted  against 
the  Romans,  their  Catholic  fellow-countrymen  taking  no 
part  in  the  movement,  but  flying  (into  the  desert)  according 
to  the  warning  of  Jesus.  The  rebels  numbered  only  ten 
million  against  120,000,000.  There  were  about  one 
million  men  at  Jerusalem  to  defend  the  capital  and  its 
temple. 


36  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  Holy  City,  strong  in  her  mountainous  location, 
was  protected  by  a  double,  and  in  some  places  by  a 
triple,  enclosure  of  walls  and  towers.  The  temple,  built 
out  of  solid  white  marble,  looked  like  a  mountain  of 
strength.  Titus,  the  Roman  general,  resolved  to  reduce 
the  city  by  famine,  and  surrounded  it  with  a  wall  to 
prevent  the  introduction  of  victuals.  Soon  all  the  horrors 
of  civil  and  foreign  war,  of  famine  and  of  epidemic  disease, 
were  raging  in  the  same  place.  Three  factions  pursued  one 
another  to  the  death.  A  fearful  famine  prevailed.  Leathern 
girdles,  shoestrings,  and  hay  were  used  for  food,  and  even 
the  common  sewers  were  ransacked.  The  people  died  in 
such  numbers  that  it  was  impossible  to  bury  them.  The 
tops  of  the  houses,  the  squares  and  the  streets  were  covered 
with  putrefying  corpses.  Pestilence  speedily  invaded  the 
city,  and  the  people  died  of  it  in  the  thoroughfares.  No 
less  than  600,000  corpses  were  thrown  over  the  walls  into 
the  ditches  outside.  Many  of  the  Jews  fled  from  the  doomed 
city,  but  were  caught  by  the  Romans.  Titus  gave  orders 
to  erect  crosses  for  the  fugitives  around  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem.  Every  day  more  than  500  were  crucified,  and 
thus  a  forest  of  crosses,  laden  with  their  dying  friends  and 
relatives,  arose  in  view  of  the  people  who  had  nailed  Jesus 
to  the  cross.  When  the  city  was  captured  the  remaining 
inhabitants  retired  to  the  temple  and  defended  it  foot  by 
foot.  They  fell  in  heaps  around  the  altar  of  holocausts; 
and  the  Roman  soldiers  waded  to  their  knees  in  blood. 
Notwithstanding  the  order  of  Titus  to  spare  the  temple,  a 
firebrand  was  thrown  into  it,  and  the  flames  burst  out 
with  fury  and  consumed  it  to  the  ground.  Ninety  seven 
thousand  Jews  were  taken  captives,  and  sold  as  slaves  all 
over  the  empire.  The  ruin  of  the  nation  was  complete 
and  irrevocable. 

As  long  as  the  temple  existed  the  Christians  frequented 
it,  to  inter  decently,  as  it  were,  the  now  superceded 
rites  of  the  Old  Law.  But  with  the  destruction  of  the 
temple  the  last  tie  was  broken  between  the  sectarian  Jews 
and  the  true  religion  which  they  had  forsaken  by  their 
rejection  of  the  Messias.  They  immediately  proceeded  to  or- 
ganize their  new  sect  in  an  entirely  novel  fashion,  without  a 


UNWILLING  WITNESSES.  37 

sacrifice  or  a  priesthood,  and  ere  long  went  so  far  as  to 
finally  discard  all  the  beautiful  Old  Testament  books 
written  in  the  Greek  language,  which  they  hated  because 
of  its  adoption  as  the  principal  medium  of  the  Gospel.  In 
the  meantime  a  large  proportion  of  the  members  of  the 
diaspora,  or  Jewish  communities  scattered  throughout  the 
civilized  world,  had  accepted  Christ,  and  thus  remained 
true  to  the  hope  of  Israel;  though  by  the  tremendous 
influx  of  converts  from  Gentilism  the  Jewish  blood  in  the 
true  Church  was  so  much  diluted,  that  the  separatists, 
who  preserved  the  blood  but  not  the  faith  of  Abraham, 
have  ever  since  been  allowed  to  retain  almost  exclusive 
possession  of  the  name  of  "Jews".  The  true  Israel 
has  preferred  to  bear  the  name  of  the  God-Incarnate, 
the  Lion  of  the  House  of  Judah,  and  the  designation 
of  Catholic,  which  expresses  the  universality  of  the  truth 
she  possesses,  the  universal  jurisdiction  of  her  Chief 
Pontiffs,  and  her  oneness  with  the  Church  of  God 
throughout  the  universe — in  Heaven,  in  Purgatory,  or 
elsewhere. 

A  hundred  years  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the 
Jewish  sectaries  revolted  anew  against  the  Caesars.  They 
were  put  down  with  frightful  slaughter,  and  thousands 
more  of  them  were  carried  into  slavery.  Jerusalem  was 
given  the  Pagan  name  of  Aelid  Capitoland  and  the  Jews 
were  forbidden  to  so  much  as  enter  its  limits.  In  361, 
Julian  the  Apostate,  out  of  hatred  to  Christianity,  attempted 
to  rebuild  the  temple,  but  was  prevented  by  dire  portents 
from  carrying  out  his  design.  After  that  time  the  Jews 
seemed  to  give  up  their  country  altogether.  Notwith- 
standing the  immense  wealth  they  have  acquired  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  they  have  never  since  shown  the  desire 
to  rebuild  the  temple,  or  to  restore  the  merely  symbolic 
worship  of  the  Mosaic  law  to  which  they  profess  to  adhere, 
a  worship  which  is  represented  on  earth  to-day  only  by 
the  Eternal  Priesthood  and  Sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  to  Which  it  pointed,  from  Which  it 
derived  all  its  efficacy,  and  into  Which  it  was  merged 
during  the  period  between  the  Great  Pentecost  and  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem. 


38  THE  THREE  AGES. 

IV.    UNDYING  HOSTILITY. 

We  do  not  deem  the  Jewish  sectaries  of  today  guilty 
of  the  Deicide  of  their  forefathers,  nor  the  masses  of  that 
people  animated  with  hostile  intentions  against  the  Church 
of  God  which  they  have  forsaken.  But  their  leaders  have 
been  the  eternal  enemies  of  the  Christians,  and  whenever 
possible  have  robbed  them  of  their  possessions  and  perse- 
cuted their  religion. 

Having  given  up  their  Heavenly  mission,  the  Jews  have 
concentrated  all  their  efforts  on  the  acquisition  of  the 
goods  of  this  world.  Gifted  with  an  extraordinary  talent 
for  business,  they  embarked  by  preference  in  trading  and 
banking.  Defeating  competition  by  unscrupulous  means, 
and  multiplying  their  wealth  by  merciless  usury,  they 
became  princely  merchants  and  royal  bankers,  and  monopo- 
lized the  wealth  of  the  nations.  Thus  they  became  the 
capitalists  of  the  Persian  and  the  Roman  empires  and  of 
Mohammedan  Spain  and  Turkey.  Now  they  have  made 
themselves  the  masters  of  continental  Europe.  At  the 
Congress  of  Christian  Democracy  assembled  at  Lyons  in 
1897  it  was  shown  by  facts  and  figures  that  this  class  of 
separatists  have  seized  upon  the  principal  instruments  of 
power  in  Europe,  to  wit,  the  newspapers,  the  universities, 
the  banks  and  the  governments.  In  Paris  all  the  papers 
except  a  few  Catholic  journals  are  in  their  power;  the 
chamber  of  commerce  is  at  their  mercy,  and  120  banks  are 
in  their  possession  or  under  their  direction.  In  Austria  all 
the  great  journals  except  two  or  three  are  in  their  hands. 
In  Hungary  it  is  only  thirty  years  since  they  were  first 
permitted  to  purchase  land,  and  already  they  own  one  third 
of  the  soil.  In  Berlin,  out  of  87,000  merchants  41,000  are 
Jews,  whilst  out  of  108,000  persons  engaged  as  servants 
or  porters  only  314  are  Jews.  Since  the  governments  of 
Europe  have  thrown  off  the  sweet  yoke  of  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  God  has  delivered  them  to  the  galling  yoke  of  the 
grasping  Jews. 

The  secret  chiefs  of  the  Liberals  know  how  to  turn 
and  use  all  that  power  and  that  wealth  against  the  Church 
of  Christ,  even  against  the  wish  and  knowledge  of  the 


UNWILLING  WITNESSES.  39 

rank  and  file  of  the  busy  Jews,  who  prefer  not  to  be 
hampered  in  their  trade.  History  relates  that  the  Jewish 
leaders  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  bloody  persecutions  of 
the  Romans  and  of  the  fanatical  warfare  of  the  Moham- 
medans. They  excited  the  Romans  by  calumnies  against 
the  followers  of  Christ,  and  they  aroused  the  Mohamme- 
dans by  false  reports  of  the  wealth  of  the  Christians  and 
of  the  ease  with  which  they  might  be  conquered.  The 
present  state  of  continental  Europe  shows  that  they  are 
united  with  the  Protestants  and  Freemasons  in  one  grand 
conspiracy  against  the  Church  of  God.  The  leading  Free- 
masons are  Jews,  such  men  as  Lemmi  and  Nathan  being 
established  as  Grand  Masters  of  that  gloomy  empire  under 
the  very  Shadow  of  the  Chair  of  Peter. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  Christians  have  at  all  times 
dreaded  and  hated  such  enemies  and  resented  their  rob- 
beries and  persecutions?  Is  it  any  wonder  that,  notwith- 
standing their  knowledge,  their  power  and  their  wealth, 
the  Jews  remain  the  most  despised  and  the  most  unhappy 
people  on  the  face  of  the  earth  ?  They  are  the  most  united 
of  nations,  and  still  they  are  scattered  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  They  are  the  richest  of  peoples ;  still  they  hold  no 
country  of  their  own.  They  control  the  great  powers  of 
our  time,  still  they  are  often  denounced  by  furious  mobs, 
driven  into  exile,  or  threatened  with  death.  At  certain 
periods,  to  rid  the  people  from  their  oppressive  usury,  all 
the  nations  proscribed  them,  and  the  Popes  of  Rome  were 
their  only  protectors,  allowing  them  a  quarter  of  their 
own  in  the  capital  of  Christendom.  Whilst  in  Protestant 
Germany  and  schismatic  Russia  many  are  incensed  against 
the  rich  Jews  and  wish  them  treated  harshly,  the  Vicar  of 
the  God  of  mercy  has  once  again  of  late  raised  his  voice  in 
their  behalf. 

The  present  sad  state  of  affairs  has  originated  because 
the  salutar\-  barriers  against  the  monopoly  and  usury  of 
the  Jews  established  by  the  Catholic  Church  have  been 
abolished.  These  were  a  protection  for  the  Christians 
and  a  safeguard  for  the  Jews,  so  inclined  to  accumulate 
riches.  The  existing  hostility  will  last  so  long  as  the  Jews 
are  not  limited  to  that  proportion  of  wealth  and  power 


40  THE  THREE  AGES. 

to  which  their  numbers  and  their  work  entitle  them,  and 
their  lives  and  civil  rights  are  not  secured  against  the  fury 
of  mobs  and  the  prejudices  of  rulers. 

The  Jews  would  have  disappeared  long  ago  had  not 
Divine  Providence  endowed  them  so  richly,  and  persistently 
protected  and  preserved  them  as  visible  examples  of  His 
justice  and,  as  Fredet  says,  "unquestionable  witnesses  of 
the  truth  of  the  ancient  Scriptures,  in  which  we  read  alike 
our  claims  and  their  condemnation." 

As  members  of  the  Church  of  God  the  Jews  cherished 
the  prophecies  with  a  loving  hope;  as  its  enemies  they 
have  preserved  the  documents  in  which  the  prophecies  are 
written,  to  their  own  condemnation. 


CHAPTER  SIXTH. 
THE  TWELVE  FISHERMEN. 

Go  ye  into  the  -whole  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved :  but 
he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  condemned.  And  these  signs  shall 
follow.  But  they  going  forth  preached  everywhere,  the  Lord 
working  withal  and  confirming  the  word  with  signs  that 
followed.  MATT,  xvi,  14 — 20. 

I.  THE  APOSTLES  TOO  BUSY  TO  WRITE. 

THE  Apostles  were  sent  to  teach  all  nations,  and  they 
did  so  by  means  of  preaching.  Their  mission  was  not 
to  write  but  to  evangelize.  They  took  no  time  to  compose 
treatises  on  Christianity ;  they  had  no  desire  to  hand  their 
deeds  down  to  posterity.  It  was  only  occasionally  that 
they  devoted  any  time  to  writing ;  and  then  they  recorded 
only  particular  facts  and  events,  or  discussed  some  burn- 
ing question.  Only  two  Apostles  committed  the  Gospel  to 
paper,  and  two  others  caused  it  to  be  written  down  by  a 
chosen  disciple.  Only  five  wrote  Epistles  that  are  still 
extant.  Luke  alone  gave  a  few  details  of  the  history  of 
the  primitive  Church.  John  alone  wrote  prophecies  regard- 
ing the  Church  in  the  future.  It  was  only  in  the  fourth 
century  that  the  inspired  books  were  gathered  into  one 
volume;  and  the  first  complete  catalogue  was  made  by 
St.  Augustine  in  the  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  397,  and 
officially  approved  by  Pope  Innocent  I. 

The  words  of  Christ — "Go  ye  into  the  whole  world 
and  preach  .  .  ." — rang  in  the  Apostles'  ears,  and  the  all- 
absorbing  zeal  with  which  they  had  been  filled  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  moved  them  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  ends 
of  the  world.  From  the  fragments  of  history  that  are  still 
extant,  it  is  evident  that  God  worked  with  them,  accord- 
ing to  His  promise,  and  used  them  as  His  instruments  in 


42  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  foundation  of  His  Kingdom  on  earth.  They  introduced 
the  Church  among  all  nations,  and  thus  made  it  in  fact 
what  it  had  been  of  right  from  the  day  when  they  received 
their  Divine  commission  —  Catholic,  i.  e.,  universal  —  the 
Church  of  the  whole  world. 

II.     FOUNDATION  OF  A  WORLD-WIDE  EMPIRE. 

The  names  of  the  twelve  Apostles  were:  The  first, 
Simon,  who  is  called  Peter,  and  Andrew  his  brother; 
James,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  John,  his  brother; 
Philip  and  Bartholomew,  Thomas  and  Matthew  the  Pub- 
lican; James  the  son  of  Alpheus,  and  Thaddeus;  Simon 
the  Cananean  and  Judas  Iscariot,  who  also  betrayed  Him 
(Matt,  x,  2 — 4).  Matthias  was  elected  instead  of  the 
traitor,  and  Paul  was  called  miraculously  by  Christ. 

The  Apostles  were  fishermen  of  the  little  lake  of  Galilee 
called  Genesareth,  except  Matthew,  a  public  officer,  and 
Paul,  an  influential  Pharisee.  If  they  were  not  learned 
men,  they  had  that  keen  eye  for  the  observation  of  details, 
and  that  sure  faculty  of  remembering  every  word  pro- 
nounced, which  are  strongest  in  those  whose  faculties  are 
not  distracted  by  too  many  other  matters.  The  Apostles 
were  upright  and  sincere,  and  had  no  interest  in  deceiving 
others  or  intention  of  doing  so.  Either  Jesus  had  wrought 
miracles  and  arisen  from  the  dead  or  not.  If  not,  they 
knew  it  well,  and  they  had  nothing  to  expect  from  Him, 
and  therefore  would  not  speak  in  His  favor.  If  He  had 
risen,  they  could  expect  the  highest  position  in  His  Heavenly 
kingdom.  But  He  had  risen  in  very  deed;  they  had  seen 
and  heard  and  touched  Him,  and  they  were  eager  to 
announce  to  the  world  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Savior  risen 
from  the  dead. 

On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  they  were  equipped  for  their 
great  mission  and  transformed  into  prophets  and  heroes. 
The  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  them  in  the  form  of  fiery 
tongues,  and  gave  them  power  to  speak  divers  languages. 
"There  were  at  Jerusalem  men  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven, 
and  every  one  heard  them  speak  in  their  own  tongue  (Acts  ii,  5 — 6)." 

Peter  proved  to  them  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God. 
Three  thousand  men  were  converted  and  baptized,  and 


THE  TWELVE  FISHERMEN.  43 

many  of  them  became  the  apostles  of  the  countries  from 
which  they  came.  Hence  from  Pentecost  dates  the  in- 
auguration, in  its  mature  and  ultimate  form,  of  the  Uni- 
versal Church  (A.  D.  34).  There  never  was  a  conqueror 
more  eager  for  combat,  or  more  confident  of  victory,  than 
were  these  twelve  fishermen.  For  their  zeal  no  distance 
was  too  great,  no  country  too  desolate,  no  people  too 
fierce.  Persecutions  had  only  the  effect  of  sending  the 
Apostles  into  new  countries.  It  was  Herod  Agrippa  I  who, 
by  killing  James  the  Greater  and  arresting  Peter,  finally 
scattered  the  Apostles  all  over  the  world,  in  the  year  42. 
All  gave  their  lives  for  Jesus  Christ.  All  are  represented 
in  sacred  art  as  martyrs,  accompanied  by  the  book  of  the 
Gospels,  a  palm  branch,  and  the  instruments  of  their 
passion,  which  are  more  glorious  tokens  of  nobility  than 
the  most  ancient  coats-of-arms. 

Many  went  through  a  number  of  different  lands,  and 
sometimes  in  the  track  of  their  colleagues;  hence  in 
some  instances  several  countries  invoke  the  same  Apostle 
as  the  founder  of  their  Church,  whilst  some  honor  more 
than  one  Apostle.  Their  veneration  as  patron  saints  by 
the  decsendants  of  their  converts  is,  in  the  case  of  some  o 
the  Apostles,  the  only  memory  left  of  their  labors.  Andrew 
preached  in  the  basin  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  died  on  a 
cross.  The  two  Jameses  taught  especially  in  Palestine: 
the  Greater  preached  a  mission  in  Spain  also,  but  on  his 
return  was  beheaded  at  Jerusalem ;  the  Lesser  was  thrown 
from  the  summit  of  the  temple  and  despatched  with  a 
fuller's  club.  Philip  announced  Christ  in  Phrygia,  and  is 
represented  with  a  cross.  Bartholomew  labored  in  Meso- 
potamia, and  was  slain  with  a  c  ub.  Thomas  advanced 
into  Persia  and  India,  and  is  represented  with  a  lance. 
Matthew  evangelized  Asiatic  Ethiopia  (Arabia)  and  was 
put  to  death  with  a  hatchet.  Matthias  went  to  African 
Ethiopia  or  tropics  and  was  murdered  with  a  battle-ax. 
Simon  labored  in  Northern  Asia  and  was  sawn  to  pieces. 
Judas  Thaddeus  was  martyred  with  him.  John  was  thrown 
into  a  caldron  of  boiling  oil,  from  which  he  came  forth 
unhurt;  and  he  lived  until  the  end  of  the  century,  testify- 
ing to  the  true  Divinity  of  Jesus  at  Ephesus  against  the 


44  THE  THREE  AGES. 

rising  heretics.  Peter  and  Paul  were  the  great  mis- 
sionaries of  the  Roman  empire,  the  first  preaching  chiefly 
to  the  Rabbinical  Jews  and  the  latter  to  the  Hellenistic 
Jews  and  the  Gentiles.  Peter  was  crucified,  and  is  repre- 
sented with  the  keys ;  Paul  was  beheaded  and  holds  a 
sword. 

There  never  were  more  rapid  conquerors  than  the 
Apostles.  Paul  writes  to  the  Romans  that  their  sound 
had  gone  forth  into  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  unto 
the  end  of  the  known  world.  The  Pagan  Seneca,  who 
died  A.  D.  65,  could  already  write:  "That  race  of  Christians 
is  received  everywhere.  The  conquered  have  given  the  law- 
to  the  conqueror."  At  the  end  of  the  second  century, 
when  the  labors  of  the  Apostles  had  produced  their  fruits, 
Tertullian  exclaims:  "We  are  but  of  yesterday  and  we  fill 
every  place.  The  temples  alone  are  left  to  you."  Then  he 
enumerates  the  most  distant  nations  among  those  where 
Christians  existed. 

It  was  not  only,  or  even  chiefly,  among  the  Gentiles 
that  the  Gospel  was  originally  diffused.  It  reached  the 
Gentiles  through  the  hands  of  the  faithful  of  Israel.  The 
vast  majority  of  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  our  Lord's  coming 
lived  outside  of  Palestine.  Immense  numbers  were  to  be 
found  in  Persia,  Egypt,  Greece,  Italy  and  Spain,  especially. 
Among  these  diaspora,  as  the  scattered  Jewish  communities 
were  called,  the  message  of  salvation  spread  with  amazing 
rapidity,  and  from  them  it  was  radiated  throughout  the 
surrounding  Paganism.  Wherever  Jews  were  found,  and 
this  was  in  every  part  of  the  known  world,  some  of  them 
recognized  the  Apostolic  authority,  and  others,  by  reject- 
ing that  authority,  which  was  no  other  than  the  rule  of 
the  long-expected  Messias,  fell  into  schism.  Although  most 
of  the  Jewish  blood  in  the  true  Church  is  lost  sight  of,  on 
account  of  the  immense  infusion  of  Gentile  elements  in  the 
course  of  its  world-wide  expansion,  it  is  highly  probable 
that  nearly  every  Christian  of  European  or  Levantine 
descent  has  some  strain  of  Jewish  lineage.  There  are  ten 
times  as  many  descendants  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob, 
even  according  to  the  flesh,  in  the  Catholic  Church  as  there 
are  among  the  adherents  of  the  Jewish  sect. 


THE  TWELVE  FISHERMEN.  45 

While  the  Apostles,  endowed  with  the  supernatural 
gift  of  tongues,  spoke  at  times  in  all  the  languages  in 
use  among  the  peoples  to  which  they  went,  the  sacred 
languages,  and  the  principal  media  of  Christian  doctrine 
and  worship,  were  those  three  which  had  been  used  in  the 
superscription  upon  the  Cross :  namely,  Latin,  Greek,  and 
that  vernacular  variety  of  Hebrew  now  called  Aramaic, 
or,  in  its  modern  form,  Syriac.  Thus,  according  to  the 
liturgical  language  used,  the  Church  has  been  divided,  ever 
since  the  Apostolic  times,  into  the  Latin,  Greek  and  S3rrian 
Churches,  which,  with  their  subdivisions  and  offshoots, 
constitute  the  fourteen  or  fifteen  officially  recognized  Rites 
that  now  make  up  the  Catholic  Church. 

The  only  Churches  which  are  not  counted  under  these 
three  heads  are  the  Armenian  and  the  Coptic.  The  Ar- 
menian is  very  ancient  and  has  been  flourishing  since  the 
fourth  century.  So  far  as  known,  it  has  always  used  the 
Armenian  language,  but  it  derived  both  its  liturgy  and  its 
Scriptures  from  the  Syrian  Church,  of  which  it  may  there- 
fore be  considered  a  daughter. 

The  Coptic  Church  may  similarly  be  viewed  as  an 
offspring  of  the  Greek.  It  is  the  national  Church  of  Egypt, 
and  the  Coptic  or  ancient  Egyptian  tongue,  which  at  a 
very  early  period  began  to  be  used  for  liturgical  purposes 
in  the  remote  country  districts,  is  now  its  official  language, 
except  in  Abyssinia,  where  the  Ethiopic  has  been  sub- 
stituted and  other  liturgical  and  disciplinary  peculiarities 
have  arisen,  thus  constituting  the  Coptic-Ethiopic  Rite. 

At  the  present  time  the  Church  is  divided  into  five 
great  Rites:  the  Latin,  Greek,  Syrian,  Coptic  and  Ar- 
menian. The  Latin  has  one  or  two  branches  or  sub- 
ordinate Rites,  notably  the  Latin-Slavonic;  the  Greek  has 
at  least  four — the  Melchite,  Ruthenian,  Roumanian  and 
Bulgarian;  and  the  Syrian  three — the  Maronite,  Chaldean 
and  Malabric. 

All  this  rich  development  of  organic  divisions  within 
the  Church  only  serves  to  make  more  conspicuous  its 
Apostolicity  and  unity,  as  well  as  its  universality  and  its 
vigorous  vitality. 


46  THE  THREE  AGES. 

III.    THE  TWO  APOSTOLIC  TYPES. 
1.    Peter  the  Wise  Governor. 

To  every  one  who  reads  the  Bible  without  prejudice 
Peter  appears  as  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles.  Everywhere 
he  is  named  the  first ;  everywhere  he  is  the  principal  actor 
and  the  most  devoted  disciple.  Jesus  changed  his  name  of 
Simon  into  that  of  Peter — that  is,  Rock  —  to  signify  that 
he  was  to  make  him  the  cornerstone  of  His  Church. 
Three  times  he  solemnly  proclaimed  him  the  head  of  His 
Kingdom,  promising  him  the  keys  of  Heaven  (Matthew 
xvi,  19),  and  charging  him  to  maintain  the  faith  of  his 
brethren  (Luke  xxii,  32),  and  to  feed  His  sheep  as  well  as 
His  iambs  (John  xvi,  15 — 17).  The  other  Apostles  under- 
stood Jesus  well,  and  gave  Peter  the  preference  in  every 
matter  of  importance.  He  presided  over  two  councils  at 
Jerusalem.  He  addressed  the  Jews  in  the  name  of  all  the 
Apostles.  He  promoted  the  development  of  the  Syrian 
Church,  visiting  its  different  congregations  to  give  them  a 
solid  organization.  In  one  of  these  visits  he  raised  from 
the  dead  the  charitable  Tabitha  (Acts  ix,  36).  His  miracu- 
lous power  was  so  well  known  that  the  people  placed  the 
sick  on  the  sidewalks,  that  at  least  the  shadow  of  Peter 
might  fall  upon  them  and  cure  them  (Acts  v,  15). 

If  we  have  not  many  details  of  the  labors  of  Peter, 
we  have  proofs  of  his  brilliant  success  in  the  Churches 
which  he  founded,  governed  or  promoted,  and  which  became 
the  most  famous  churches  of  the  first  centuries  and  the 
seat  of  the  great  Patriarchates ;  to  wit,  Jerusalem,  Antioch, 
Alexandria  and  Rome.  Although  James  was  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  Peter  labored  in  the  interests  of  the  whole 
Church  of  Palestine,  and  visited  many  places  in  person 
and  with  authority.  He  founded  the  Church  of  Antioch, 
the  capital  of  Asia,  where  he  resided  for  a  time.  To 
Alexandria,  the  capital  of  Africa,  he  sent  his  disciple  Mark, 
who  established  a  very  flourishing  community  there.  He 
passed  through  Asia  Minor  and  went  to  Rome,  the  capital 
of  Europe  and  the  mistress  of  the  world.  Wherever  Peter 
went,  even  by  proxy,  an  impression  was  made  which 
lasted  for  centuries.  He  dispatched  missionaries  all  through 


THE  TWELVE  FISHERMEN.  47 

Italy,  Spain  and  Gaul,  and  made  of  the  West  what  it  has 
ever  since  been— the  most  solid  part  of  Christendom. 
Rome  was  the  capital  of  Paganism,  the  seat  of  the  Pagan 
pontifex  maximus,  who  was  no  less  a  person  than  the 
emperor  himself.  Peter  made  her  the  central  seat  of  the 
true  religion.  For  he  founded  there  such  a  fervent  Church 
that  she  became  renowned  the  world  over  (Romans  i, 
8,  12;  xvi,  19)  and  gave  more  martyrs  to  Christ  than 
any  other  Church,  so  that  she  richly  deserves  her  name  of 
Mother  of  Martyrs.  After  three  hundred  years  of  struggle 
she  became  the  capital  of  Christendom,  and  later  on  the 
property  of  the  Popes. 

2.     Paul  the  Eager  Conqueror. 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  relate  four  apostolic  journeys 
undertaken  by  St.  Paul.  In  A.  D.  42  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  went  to  the  region  about  Tarsus,  his  birthplace. 
In  the  years  52  and  54? — 57  he  went  around  the  ^Egean 
Sea.  When  he  returned  to  Jerusalem  to  perform  a  vow, 
mobs  formed  and  would  have  killed  him  if  the  tribune  had 
not  rescued  him.  The  Sanhedrim  itself  would  have  torn 
him  to  pieces  if  he  had  not  been  rescued  a  second  time. 
A  conspiracy  formed  against  his  life  was  discovered,  and 
he  was  dispatched  by  night  to  Cassaria,  where  he  was 
detained  two  years  in  prison.  Sent  to  Rome,  for  the 
hearing  of  his  appeal  to  Caesar,  he  suffered  shipwreck  on 
the  way,  but  he  was  saved  and,  by  his  prayer,  all  the 
ship's  company  with  him.  Bitten  by  a  serpent,  on  the 
coast  where  they  landed,  he  was  not  hurt.  After  three 
years  more  of  imprisonment  he  was  set  free  again 
(A.  D.  63).  He  made  a  journey  around  the  Mediterranean, 
and  later  on  was  captured  and  martyred  with  Peter  under 
Nero  (A.  D.  67). 

In  his  second  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  Paul  describes 
the  immense  labors  and  burning  zeal  of  the  Apostles  for 
Jesus ;  for  what  he  says  of  himself  can  be  applied  to  all 
the  Apostles. 

"I  am  in  many  labors,  in  prisons  frequently,  in  stripes  above  measure, 
in  deaths  often.  Of  the  Jews  five  times  did  I  receive  forty  stripes  save 
one.  Thrice  I  was  beaten  with  rods,  once  was  I  stoned;  thrice  have  I 


48  THE  THREE  AGES. 

suffered  shipwreck— a  night  and  a  day  I  was  in  the  depth  of  the  sea. 
In  journeying  often,  in  perils  of  wars,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  from 
my  own  nation,  in  perils  from  the  Gentiles,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils 
in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  from  false  brethren,  in 
labor  and  painfulness,  in  much  watching,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fasting 
often,  in  cold  and  in  nakedness  (II.  Cor.  xi,  23—27)." 

In  his  fourteen  epistles  Paul  breathes  constantly  the 
love  of  Jesus.  He  commences  and  finishes  every  one  with 
His  Holy  Name.  He  ascribes  all  to  Jesus,  he  calls  Him  the 
central  point  of  all  time,  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  the 
human  race,  and  the  cause  of  the  end  of  every  event. 
(Romans  xi,  36). 

IV.     CONTRAST  TO  MOHAMMEDANISM. 

The  reign  of  Christ  does  not  depend  on  any  man  or 
any  nation  or  any  human  means,  but  on  God  alone. 
Jesus  chose  twelve  poor  fishermen  of  the  little  lake  of 
Galilee  to  spread  His  authority  over  all  the  earth.  With- 
out learning  or  influence  or  money  they  set  forth  and 
reached  the  utmost  boundaries  of  the  known  world ;  and 
they  made  such  an  impression  that  they  left  disciples 
everywhere,  and  that  their  works  remain  until  today. 
They  could  not  produce  such  results  by  themselves,  con- 
sequently they  were  the  instruments  of  Almighty  God  in 
the  conversion  of  the  world.  But  the  reign  of  Mohammed 
in  the  lands  of  Islam,  like  every  other  temporary  triumph 
of  heresy,  was  established  through  worldly  means  and  by 
brutal  force.  The  false  prophet  enkindled  the  martial  spirit 
of  the  Arabs,  and  drove  them  sword  in  hand  through  the 
world,  with  the  savage  motto,  "Become  a  Mohammedan 
or  die."  The  vast  conquests  of  the  Mussulmen  were  the 
result  of  military  force  and  tactics,  and  they  are  no  more 
miraculous  than  the  victories  of  Napoleon. 


CHAPTER  SEVENTH. 
POWERLESS  TYRANTS. 

The  weak  things  of  the  world  hath   God   chosen  that  He 
may  confound  the  strong.     I.  CORINTHIANS  i,  27.     .  s   ,  r  «     <. 

I.     THE  PAGAN  EMPIRE  WARS  ON  THE  CHURCH. 


Romans  had  erected  the  most  magnificent  empire- 
that  ever  existed.  Rome  had  subdued  and  plundered 
the  great  cities  of  old  ;  she  had  conquered  commercial 
Carthage,  classic  Athens  and  holy  Jerusalem.  Enthroned 
near  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  sea,  she  ruled  the 
finest  parts  of  the  world,  and  she  gathered  into  her  bosom 
the  richest  treasures  of  gold  and  jewels,  and  the  finest 
masterpieces  of  all  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  cu>tured 
Greeks  made  themselves  the  slaves  of  the  caprices  and 
passions  of  her  citizens.  The  sturdy  barbarians  descended 
into  the  arena,  and  the  wild  beasts  were  thrown  into  the 
amphitheatres  to  amuse  her  kingly  people  by  deadly 
struggles. 

The  Romans  attributed  all  their  glory  to  the  favor  of 
the  Superior  Powers  who  rule  the  universe.  Not  only  did 
they  honor  their  own  national  gods,  but  they  also  accepted 
and  propitiated  those  of  their  enemies,  and  built  temples 
in  their  honor.  They  recognized  no*  less  than  30,000  gods; 
to  whom  they  erected  the  great  temple  of  the  Pantheon. 
But  lo  !  a  crucified  Galilean  brands  their  heavenly  pro- 
tectors as  demons,  and  claims  for  Himself  Divine  worship 
from  the  masters  of  the  universe.  The  high  priests  of  the 
gods  were  no  others  than  the  mighty  Caesars  themselves, 
who  rose  up  to  defend  their  national  religion  and  customs, 
and  to  crush  out  this  new  and  contemptible  worship. 
For  three  centuries  they  brought  to  bear  all  the  resources 
of  their  vast  power  against  this  strange  religion.  There 

4 

t, 


50  THE  THREE  AGES. 

were  always  laws  in  force  against  the  Christians  which 
were  being  applied  in  some  part  of  the  world.  But  ten 
powerful  emperors  enforced  them  everywhere,  and  enacted 
new  ones,  thus  enkindling  the  fire  of  persecution  all  over 
the  empire.  Each  century  had  its  own  particular  torments, 
according  to  the  temper  of  the  persecutors  and  the  spirit 
of  the  times.  Thus  the  Pagans  of  Rome  attempted  to  ex- 
terminate ten  generations  of  Christians.  But  the  disciples 
of  Christ  constantly  grew  in  numbers  under  the  very  fire 
of  the  enemy.  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  the  seed  of 
the  Church,  says  Tertullian.  God  multiplied  miracles  to 
arouse  the  courage  of  His  witnesses  and  to  confound  the 
fury  of  His  enemies.  For  one  that  fell,  he  raised  up  ten 
new  champions  of  His  cause;  and  He  slew  the  cruel 
tyrants  with  speedy  and  horrible  deaths. 

II.     CRUEL  ASSAULT  BY  TWO  MONSTERS. 

In  the  first  century  there  was  a  brutal  assault  upon 
the  Church  by  two  monsters  of  cruelty,  to  wit,  Nero  and 
Domitian.  Nero,  stained  with  unnatural  crimes,  and  steeped 
in  the  blood  of  his  mother,  brother  and  friend,  set  flre  to 
the  capital  of  the  world  and  accused  the  Christians  of  the 
savage  deed.  To  punish  such  a  public  outrage,  the  first 
persecution  was  started,  and  raged  with  incredible  fury 
for  nearly  half  a  decade  (A.  D.  64—68).  Some  of  the 
Christians,  after  being  covered  with  the  skins  of  wild 
beasts,  were  hunted  with  dogs,  and  by  them  torn  to 
pieces  and  devoured.  Others  were  besmeared  with  resinous 
substances,  fastened  to  posts  along  the  streets  or  in  the 
alleys  of  the  imperial  gardens,  and  then  set  on  fire  and 
burned  like  torches  to  light  up  the  scenery.  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul  were  Nero's  foremost  victims  (A.  D.  67).  Soon  the 
hand  of  God  fell  upon  him ;  he  was  declared  a  public 
enemy  by  the  Senate,  and,  in  his  desperation,  finally  be- 
sought one  of  his  freedmen  to  put  an  end  to  his  life. 

Domitan,  his  equal  in  cruelty,  carried  on  the  second 
persecution  (A.  D.  93—96).  He  tormented  the  last  of  the 
original  Apostles,  St.  John.  He,  too,  was  so  despicable  in 
character  that  his  wife  put  him  to  death,  and  the  Senate 
degraded  him  and  caused  his  name  to  be  erased  from  the 


POWERLESS  TYRANTS.  51 

public  records.  It  redounds  to  the  eternal  honor  of  Christi- 
anity to  have  been  first  attacked  by  two  monsters  of 
cruelty,  who  found  their  chief  delight  in  tormenting  their 
fellowmen,  and  who  were  killed  in  their  own  households 
and  loaded  with  contumely  by  the  public  powers  of  their 
own  country. 

III.     SYSTEMATIC    PERSECUTIONS    BY   TWO   STATESMEN. 

In  the  second  century,  there  were  methodic  persecutions 
by  two  great  statesmen  who  were  anxious  to  maintain 
the  state  religion  of  Paganism :  Trajan  and  Marcus  Aure- 
lius.  The  Pagan  priests  and  the  Jewish  rabbis  represented 
the  Christians  as  the  enemies  of  the  gods,  the  emperors, 
the  laws,  public  morals,  and  society  at  large.  They  accused 
them  of  awful  crimes  of  impurity,  impiety  and  cruelty,  and 
represented  them  as  the  cause  of  all  the  calamities  that 
befell  the  empire.  No  wonder  that  popular  mobs  attacked 
the  Christians  and  that  the  fierce  cry  for  blood  often 
echoed  through  the  amphitheatres:  "The  Christians  to 
the  lions!"  The  Pagan  philosophers  undertook  to  demon- 
strate the  absurdity  of  Christianity.  Celsus  raised  all 
possible  objections  and  sophisms  against  our  faith;  to 
such  an  extent  that  modern  infidels  can  only  repeat  his 
hackneyed  charges.  But  these  were  forever  refuted  by  St. 
Justin,  the  Martyr,  Tertullian  and  Origen,  and  were  even 
contradicted  by  the  Pagan  author  Pliny.  However,  the 
great  statesmen  who  ruled  the  empire  did  not  consult 
reason  or  examine  into  the  facts.  They  looked  only  at 
what  they  considered  reasons  of  state,  and  strove  to 
exterminate  the  Christians  lest  their  false  gods  might  be 
offended  and  the  national  customs  changed.  The  warlike 
Trajan  and  the  peaceful  Adrian  prolonged  the  third  perse- 
cution from  105  to  127.  SS.  Simeon  of  Jerusalem  and 
Ignatius  of  Antioch  were  among  the  most  illustrious  mar- 
tyrs who  testified  before  their  magistrates.  The  philo- 
sopher Marcus  Aurelius  was  the  fourth  persecutor,  and 
perpetrated  horrible  cruelties  in  Lyons,  Vienna  and  Smyrna. 
St.  Polycarp  shone  by  his  fortitude  in  the  last-named  city. 

The  base  means  of  calumny  and  mockery  resorted  to 
by  these  Pagans  show  the  weakness  of  their  cause  and 


52  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  strength  of  Christianity.  God  did  not  spare  these 
statesmen,  and  visited  His  wrath  upon  them  even  in  this 
world.  The  conqueror  Trajan  saw  his  new  provinces 
revolted.  Hadrian  met  his  death  by  gluttony.  Marcus 
Aurelius  was  cursed  with  a  bad  son,  and  brought  to  an 
untimely  end  by  a  barbarian  tribe. 

IV.    WARLIKE  ATTACK  BY  FIVE  SOLDIERS. 

During  the  third  century  the  empire  was  under  the 
control  of  the  soldiery,  who  crowned  and  uncrowned  the 
emperors.  Five  tyrants  attempted  to  exterminate  those 
Christians  who  remained  firm  in  their  faith  and  to  frighten 
the  weaker  ones  into  apostasy  by  refined  and  prolonged 
tortures.  The  ordinary  punishments  were  too  lenient  for 
them,  and  prodigious  ingenuity  was  expended  in  devising 
new  and  most  barbarous  torments.  The  Roman  amphi- 
theatres where  the  scenes  of  horrible  butcheries.  Amid  the 
howls  of  the  pitiless  mob,  defenseless  Christians  were 
thrown  to  the  lions,  tigers,  elephants,  bears  and  bulls,  to 
be  trampled,  dragged,  torn  and  devoured  by  the  ravenous 
brutes.  Some  of  the  martyrs  were  tied  together  and  hurled 
into  the  sea,  or  imprisoned  in  sacks  with  poisonous  ser- 
pents. Others  were  dipped  in  honey,  and  laid,  with  their 
hands  and  feet  bound,  in  the  burning  sun,  to  be  devoured 
by  worms  and  insects,  or  to  rot  alive.  Others  were  tied 
to  trees  to  become  the  prey  of  wild  beasts.  Some  were 
bound  to  the  tails  of  wild  horses  and  dragged  to  death 
over  thorns  and  stones.  Still  others  were  fastened  to 
boughs  of  trees,  bent  forward,  to  be  lacerated  in  their 
rebound.  Women  -were  subjected  to  alluring  temptations 
and  shameful  humiliations.  The  feet  of  men  were  pressed 
in  blocks,  their  limbs  dislocated  by  means  of  racks  or 
wrenched  off  joint  by  joint,  till  nothing  but  the  head  and 
trunk  of  the  victim  were  left.  The  eyes  and  tongue  were 
torn  out,  and  needles  were  stuck  under  the  nails.  Some 
martyrs  were  rolled  naked  on  sharp  shells  and  pieces  of 
glass,  and  their  wounds  afterwards  rubbed  with  salt  and 
vinegar.  Others  were  cast  into  the  midst  of  the  flames, 
or  placed  upon  heated  iron  grates  or  chairs.  Decius  sought, 
by  a  prolongation  of  torment,  to  wear  out  the  Christians, 


POWERLESS  TYRANTS.  53 

endeavoring  to  starve  them  into  apostasy.  But  Christ  and 
His  Bishops  were  watchful.  The  Church  frightened  her 
childred  away  from  the  Pagan  altars  by  a  severe  discipline 
of  public  penances,  which  subjected  the  apostates  to  many 
years  of  humiliation  at  the  doors  of  the  churches. 

God  did  not  forget  His  soldiers  in  their  trials.  He 
shortened  the  time  of  their  persecutors  during  this  century 
to  less  than  one  year,  with  the  exception  of  Septimius 
Severus,  who  had  ten  years  in  which  to  persecute  (A.  D. 
201—211).  The  Almighty  also  punished  the  Empire  with 
civil  and  foreign  wars,  with  pest  and  black  plague.  From 
259  to  271,  thirty  tyrants  tormented  the  Roman  world; 
the  barbarians  invaded  the  provinces,  and  the  plague  deci- 
mated the  inhabitants. 

Septimus  Severus,  the  fifth  of  the  persecutors,  martyred 
St.  Irenaeus,  \vith  nineteen  hundred  other  Christians,  at 
Lyons.  His  son  Caracalla  tried  to  murder  him,  and 
brought  him  to  an  early  death.  The  sixth  perse- 
cutor was  the  barbarian  Maximin,  A.  D.  235.  He  was 
killed  by  the  African  army,  and  his  head  carried  at  the 
end  of  a  lance.  The  seventh  persecutor  Decius  was  one  of 
the  fiercest  enemies  that  ever  afflicted  Christianity.  He 
terrified  the  Christians  by  the  cruelty  and  the  length  of 
the  torments.  So  great  was  the  carnage  he  wrought 
among  them  that  they  had  to  enlarge  the  catacombs  to 
bury  their  dead  and  to  conceal  their  living.  This  emperor 
was  killed  by  the  Goths  and  left,  without  burial,  to  be 
devoured  by  the  wild  beasts.  Valerian  (A.  D.  257—258) 
put  to  death  SS.  Cyprian,  Stephen,  Sixtus  and  Lawrence. 
Captured  by  the  enemy  in  a  war  against  the  Persians, 
he  served  for  ten  years  as  a  footstool  for  the  king  of  that 
country,  from  which  to  mount  his  horse,  until  he  was 
flayed  alive  and  his  skin  hung  as  a  trophy  in  a  Persian 
temple.  Aurelian  commenced  a  ninth  persecution  in  275; 
but  he  was  killed  by  the  officers  of  his  own  army. 

V.  CULMINATING  PERSECUTION  AND  MIRACULOUS 
VICTORY. 

After  three  hundred  years  of  vain  rage,  six  strong 
emperors  combined  all  the  policy,  all  the  power  and  all 


54  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  cruelty  at  the  command  of  the  masters  of  the  world 
to  exterminate  Christianity  forever,  by  one  supreme  effort, 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  was  the  tenth  persecution, 
carried  on  under  the  names  of  Diocletian  and  Maximian 
(A.  D.  303—313).  Galerius,  one  of  their  associates  in  the 
empire,  was  the  new  Nero  to  enkindle  the  fires.  Setting 
the  palace  twice  on  fire,  he  accused  the  Christians  of  that 
crime,  and  thus  aroused  the  emperors  against  them.  The 
persecution  was  so  violent  that  all  exterior  signs  of 
Christianity  disappeared,  and  that  columns  were  erected 
to  commemorate  the  complete  annhilation  of  the  Christ- 
ians, with  the  words:  Dieleto  nomine  Christiana.  —  "The 
very  name  of  the  Christians  having  been  wiped  out."  But 
at  the  precise  moment  when  Paganism  was  celebrating  its 
triumph,  God  was  preparing  its  ruin.  Galerius  compelled 
Diocletian  and  Maximian  to  abdicate  their  power,  and  in 
their  chagrin  these  once  mighty  sovereigns  did  themselves 
to  death.  Galerius  was  the  monster  who  had  fed  his  bears 
with  the  living  flesh  of  Christians,  and  roasted  their 
members  over  a  slow  fire.  He  was  most  visibly  struck  by 
God.  He  was  devoured  alive  by  vermin,  and  the  odor  of 
his  sores  drove  the  courtiers  from  his  palace.  Maxentius, 
son  of  Maximian,  who  was  master  of  Rome,  and  had 
250,000  men  to  defend  it,  declared  war  against  Constan- 
tine,  the  Caesar  of  Gaul,  who  could  only  dispose  of  40,000 
men.  But  Constantine,  whose  mother  was  a  saint,  had 
confidence  in  the  God  of  the  Christians,  and  boldly  marched 
on  Rome.  A  luminous  cross  appeared  in  the  sky  to  the 
whole  army,  with  these  words,  shining  in  letters  of  gold: 
In  hoc  signo  vinces — "By  this  sign  thou  shalt  conquer." 
Maxentius  was  routed  and  fled.  He  was  drowned  in  the 
Tiber.  The  Cross  had  conquered.  It  entered  Rome  in 
triumph,  and  drove  the  Pagan  gods  from  the  Capitol. 
Thus  were  the  conquerors  of  the  world  overcome  by  the 
crucified  God  of  Calvary. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTH. 
TRIUMPHANT  VICTIMS. 

When  they  shall  deliver  you  up,  take  no  thought  how  and 
what  to  speak ;  for  it  shall  be  given  you  in  that  hour  what  to 
speak.  For  it  is  not  you  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your 
Father  that  speaketh  in  you.  MATTHEW  x,  19 — 20. 

I.     THE  ELOQUENCE  OF  BLOOD. 

A  MARTYR  is  a  person  who  voluntarily  sheds  his  blood 
for  the  defense  of  his  faith.  He  must  be  fully  convinced 
of  the  greatness  of  his  cause,  and  of  the  truth  of  the  fact 
or  doctrine,  to  be  willing  to  give  up  his  life  for  it.  Jesus 
was  the  first  to  die  to  assert  His  Divinity.  His  disciples 
died  by  the  millions  to  assert  that  same  Divinity,  and 
their  heroic  sacrifice  convinced  the  Pagan  world  of  their 
sincerity,  and  of  the  truth  of  their  religion,  and  brought 
it  to  the  feet  of  the  crucified  God. 

II.  SUBLIME  VIRTUES  OF  THE  MARTYRS. 

The  martyrs  are  braver  than  the  soldiers  who  die  for 
their  country;  for  such  heroes  sell  their  lives  dearly  and 
are  crowned  with  laurels,  while  martyrs  are  subjected  to 
a  painful  death,  covered  with  disdain  and  consigned  to 
the  oblivion  of  the  world.  Their  only  ambition  is  to  testify 
to  the  glory  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  suffer  something  for 
His  name.  They  are  moreover  the  noblest  of  men  in  their 
moral  virtues,  such  as  justice,  chastity  and  charity. 
St.  Ignatius,  the  eminent  Bishop  of  Antioch,  is  a  striking 
example  of  a  true  martyr.  In  the  year  106,  the  great 
emperor  Trajan  summoned  him  to  appear  before  him.  He 
rebuked  him  as  a  malignant  devil,  who  had  dared  to 
violate  his  command,  and  he  boasted  that  the  gods  of  the 
Romans  had  helped  them  to  conquer  the  world.  Ignatius 
replied : 


56  THE  THREE  AGES. 

"You  err  in  calling  those  gods  who  are  no  better  than  devils.  There 
is  but  one  God,  Who  has  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  one  Jesus  Christ, 
the  only  Son  of  God,  to  whose  kingdom  I  aspire." 

The  Emperor  condemned  him  to  be  torn  in  pieces  by 
"tHe  wild  beasts  at  Rome.  The  saint  thanked  God,  who 
had  so  honored  him  as  to  allow  him  to  be  bound  with 
,the  chains  of  Paul  the  Apostle.  Fearing  lest  the  Roman 
Christians  might  try  to  obtain  his  pardon  from  the 
emperor,  or  to  ask  his  miraculous  preservation  from  the 
Almighty,  and  thus  prevent  his  martyrdom,  he  wrote  to 
theniinot  to  oppose  his  sacrifice. 

"I  fear  your  love,  lest  you  do  me  an  injury.  If  you  love  my  body,  I 
shall  have  to  run  my  course  again.  Therefore  you  cannot  do  me  a 
greater  kindness  than  to  suffer  me  to  be  sacrificed  unto  God,  while  the 
altar,  is  now  ready.  Suffer  me  to  be  the  food  of  the  wild  beasts ;  this  is 
£he  shoril;  way  to  Heaven.  May  I  enjoy  the  wild  beasts  that  are  pre- 
pared for  me !  May  they  exercise  all  their  fierceness  upon  me !  If  they 
will  not  do  it  willingly  I  will  provoke  them  to  do  it.  Forgive  me.  I 
know  what  is  profitable  to  me.  Permit  me  to  imitate  my  Savior.  Come 
lire!  Come  cross!  Come  beasts  without  number!  Let  my  bones  be 
crushed  and  my  whole  body  be  rent!  Let  all  the  torments  of  the  Devil 
be  let  loose  upon  me,  so  only  that  I  become  a  partaker  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Ignatius  arrived  at  Rome  during  the  Saturnalia  feasts. 
£he  people  were  gathered  in  the  immense  Coliseum  to 
witness  the  wild  fights  of  beasts  and  men.  They  were 
.satiated,  with  the  blood  of  the  fallen  ones,  and  now  they 
craved  to  see  the  undaunted  Bishop  of  the  Christians 
before  the  lions.  The  venerable  man,  covered  with  white 
garments  and  crowned  with  snow-white  hair,  is  led  into 
the  bloody  arena.  Standing  immovable  he  cries:  "I  am 
the  wheat  of  the  Lord.  I  must  be  ground  by  the  teeth  of 
.these  beasts  so  as  to  be  made  the  pure  bread  of  Jesus 
Christ."  The  iron  gates  turn;  two  hungry  lions  bound  into 
the  arena.  They  seize  the  martyr  in  their  huge  claws  and 
quickly  devour  him.  There  remain  only  the  large  bones, 
.which  are  gathered  by  the  deacons  of  Antioch,  and  pre^ 
served  as  the  most  precious  of  treasures. 

The  heroic  fortitude  of  the  martyrs  always  struck  the 
crowd  of  spectators  and  often  their  very  tormentors.  It 
was  not  rare  to  hear  the  people,  and  even  the  tormentors, 
suddenly  declare  themselves  Christians  in  the  presence  of 
the  threatening  judges. 


TRIUMPHANT  VICTIMS.  57 

Moreover,  God  multiplied  miracles  in  the  solemn  hour 
of  trial.  Often  the  most  deadly  weapons  could  not  kill 
the  champions  of  Christ;  while  their  unjust  judges  were 
stricken  blind  or  dead  011  the  bench,  and  the  cities  guilty 
of  their  blood  were  shaken  by  frightful  storms  and  earth- 
quakes. Large  crowds  at  once,  and  whole  towns  at  a 
time,  declared  themselves  Christians  during  the  testimony 
of  blood  given  by  these  heroic  soldiers  of  Christ. 

III.     IMMENSE  NUMBER  OF  THE  MARTYRS. 

People  of  every  age  and  sex,  rank  and  condition,  gave 
one  and  the  same  testimony  to  the  God  of  Calvary. 
Victor,  Eulalia  and  Agnes  were  children  of  twelve  years, 
and  yet  they  undoubtedly  proclaimed  the  Divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ  even  in  the  face  of  the  burning  fire.  The  young  and 
noble  Pancratius  braved  the  lions  of  the  Coliseum  at 
Rome,  and  the  learned  princess  Catharine  confounded  the 
philosophers  of  Alexandria  and  was  mutilated  on  a  wheel 
of  knives.  Pope  Sixtus  II.  was  slain  on  the  altar  in  the 
Catacombs.  His  deacon  Lawrence  complained  that  he  was 
not  allowed  to  offer  his  own  sacrifice  with  that  of  the 
Pontiff.  But  the  third  day  after,  he  was  roasted  alive  on 
a  gridiron  in  one  of  the  public  squares  of  the  city.  In  the 
midst  of  the  flames  he  had  the  courage  to  offer  his  roasted 
flesh  as  a  fit  food  for  the  tyrannical  judge.  Agatha  in 
Sicily  resisted  the  threats  and  allurements  of  the  governor 
who  sought  her  hand.  Ordered  to  renounce  Jesus  Christ 
under  pain  of  torment,  she  said:  ''Renounce  yourself  your 
gods  of  wood  and  stone  and  adore  Jesus  Christ,  or  else 
you  will  be  tormented  forever."  Polycarp,  the  fearless 
Bishop  of  Smyrna,  was  challenged  to  choose  between 
apostasy  and  death.  He  answered:  "I  have  served  Christ 
for  eighty  years ;  how  can  I  now  blaspheme  my  King  and 
Savior?"  He  was  condemned  to  be  burned  alive  on  a  heap 
of  fagots  blazing  in  the  public  square.  But  the  flames  sur- 
rounded him  in  the  form  of  an  arch.  To  end  his  life  a 
Pagan  had  to  come  and  pierce  him. 

Did  ever  any  other  person  than  Jesus  Christ  have  such 
generous  champions?  In  the  numerous  and  huge  folios  of 
the  Bollandists,  there  are  authentic  records  of  thousands 


58  THE  THREE  AGES. 

of  matyrs.  But  that  is  an  insignificant  number  in  com- 
parison to  those  whose  deeds  are  known  to  God  alone. 
All  the  ancient  documents  speak  of  innumerable  multitudes. 
The  Catacombs  of  Rome  are  the  most  conclusive  proof  of 
their  great  number.  The  Catacombs  are  underground 
cemeteries  hewn  in  the  rock.  They  consist  of  narrow  cor- 
ridors, lined  with  rows  of  tombs  on  both  sides  like  the 
shelves  of  a  store.  They  are  often  three  and  sometimes 
five  stories  deep,  and  many  of  the  cemeteries  have  more 
streets  than  a  good-sized  town.  There  have  been  discovered 
fortynine  Catacombs  around  Rome,  which  form  nine  hun- 
dred miles  of  vaults  and  afford  room  for  five  millions  of 
people.  The  martyrs  that  are  buried  therein  have  five 
signs  by  which  they  can  be  recognized,  and  which  are 
found  in  great  numbers.  The  surest  of  these  signs  are  a 
phial  of  blood  and  a  palm  branch.  The  Catacombs  served 
also  as  a  shelter  for  the  living.  When  the  thunder  of  per- 
secution rolled  over  their  heads,  the  Christians  had  no 
secure  place  of  refuge  except  the  city  of  the  dead.  Thither 
they  fled.  There  they  offered  up  the  Precious  Blood  of  the 
Son  of  God  upon  the  bleeding  bones  of  the  martyrs.  There 
they  received  the  same  sacraments  with  which  our  souls 
are  nourished.  All  the  seven  sacraments  are  represented 
in  the  fresco  paintings  which  remain  to  this  day.  Thence 
they  parted  breathing  fire  like  lions,  and  ready  to  give 
their  blood  for  Jesus  Christ.  Ten  generations  passed 
through  those  dark  and  damp  necropoles.  Is  there  any 
separated  religion  for  which  millions  of  civilized  people 
have  been  willing  to  be  torn  to  pieces  or  to  be  buried  alive 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  ? 


CHAPTER  NINTH. 
CHRISTIANITY  AND  PHILOSOPHY. 

If  thy  brother  shall  offend  against  thee,  go  and  rebuke  him 
between  thee  and  him  alone.  If  he  will  not  hear  thee,  tell  the 
Church;  and  if  he  will  not  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be  to  thee 
as  the  heathen  and  the  publican.  Amen,  I  say  unto  you, 
whatsoever  you  shall  bind  upon  earth  shall  be  bound  also  in 
Heaven.  MATTHEW  xvm,  15 — 17. 

I.    DOCTRINE  CAST  INTO  SCIENTIFIC  FORM. 

4{TJELL,"  says  St.  Cyprian,  "beholding  its  idols  overthrown,  invented 
^•^  a  new  means  of  destroying  the  peace  of  the  Church,  by  exciting 
heresies  and  schisms,  which  strove  to  corrupt  the  faith  and  to  disturb 
its  unity.  But  the  new  efforts  of  the  demons  afforded  her  an  opportunity 
for  still  greater  triumphs." 

Indeed,  radical  heretics  soon  arose,  who  attacked  the 
Divinity  and  the  Work  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  tried  to  reduce 
Him  to  the  level  of  the  Pagan  divinities  and  to  make  of 
Christianity  practically  a  mild  form  of  Paganism.  Then 
ambitious  schismatics  revolted  against  the  authority  estab- 
lished by  Jesus  Christ,  and  separated  whole  nations  from 
the  rest  of  Christendom.  But  God  knows  how  to  draw 
good  out  of  evil  by  making  attacks  on  Christian  truths 
an  occasion  for  defining  them  forever.  It  is  a  law  of  history 
that  whenever  a  Christian  tenet  is  attacked  it  is  sure  to 
be  defined  so  clearly  and  formulated  so  accurately  that 
there  can  be  no  further  misunderstanding  on  the  subject 
for  all  time  to  come. 

II.    THE  PHILOSOPHERS  ACCEPT  CHRISTIANITY. 

The  Greeks  were  the  most  intellectual  people  of  the 
earth,  and  the  leaders  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  Many 
centuries  before  Christ,  their  philosophers  had  made  deep 
investigations  into  the  problem  of  the  origin  of  man  and 
his  consequent  duties.  At  first  Pythagoras  introduced  the 
brilliant  dreams  of  Asiatic  pantheism  and  metempsychosis. 
But  soon,  under  the  influence  of  a  purer  tradition,  the 


60  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Greeks  created  original  systems  of  philosophy,  which  were 
the  most  exact  and  the  most  sublime  ever  produced  by  the 
human  mind  alone.  Four  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
Socrates  sacrificed  his  life  for  the  love  of  wisdom  and  virtue. 
After  him  were  established  the  four  great  philosophical 
schools  which  have  divided  the  civilized  world  ever  since. 
Plato  developed  lofty  ideas  on  the  creative  mind  of  God, 
the  soul  of  man,  and  the  government  of  society.  His 
philosophy  reaches  so  high  that  it  has  been  called  the 
human  preface  of  the  Gospel.  Aristotle  studied  our  faculties 
and  our  senses,  and  formulated  the  great  laws  of  intel- 
lectual operation  which  have  continued  to  be  the  guide  of 
the  civilized  world  until  the  present  day.  Other  philosophers 
examined  the  practical  questions  of  the  end  of  man  and  the 
conditions  of  human  happiness.  Epicurus  found  the  chief 
felicity  of  man  in  the  satisfaction  of  his  desires  or  passions ; 
Zeno  in  the  control  of  the  same  passions  and  the  practice 
of  the  most  austere  virtue.  For  hundreds  of  years  the 
Greeks  were  disputing  over  those  and  other  systems. 
About  the  time  of  Our  Lord  able  exponents  of  the  Platonic 
school  appeared  in  the  persons  of  Cicero  and  Plutarch. 
In  the  fourth  century  after  Christ,  Julian  the  Apostate 
revived  that  school,  and  introduced  into  it  some  of  the 
principals  of  Oriental  pantheism.  Against  this  Neoplatonism 
arose  the  Christian  schools  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  at 
the  central  seats  of  the  Greek  and  Syrian  culture.  The 
Syrians,  it  may  be  remarked,  were  intellectually  dependent 
on  the  Greeks,  having  been  pretty  thoroughly  Hellenized; 
so  that  it  is  common  to  include  the  S37rian  and  Greek 
Churches,  as  well  as  the  Coptic  and  the  Armenian  in  a 
loose  sense,  under  the  head  of  Greeks.  The  school  of 
Alexandria  was  more  distinctively  Greek,  and  was  mystical 
and  speculative  in  its  tendency;  while  the  Syrian  school 
of  Antioch  inclined  to  a  shallow  rationalism  and  empiricism. 
The  first  was  the  bulwark  of  orthodoxy,  while  the  latter 
produced  several  heresiarchs. 

The  Greeks,  as  we  have  seen,  were  a  highly  philosophical 
people,  and  they  brought  to  the  Church  that  spirit  of 
inquiry  and  contention  that  had  distinguished  their  fathers. 
They  made  long  investigations  into  the  mysteries  of  Christ- 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  61 

ianity,  and  they  were  struck  by  their  loftiness  and  exacti- 
tude, and  humbly  bowed  their  knees  before  the  Prophet  of 
Nazareth.  What  a  security  for  the  justness  of  our  faith! 
The  most  intellectual  and  subtle  people  of  antiquity  carefully 
examined  all  our  dogmas,  at  the  beginning  of  their  diffusion, 
and  found  them  supremely  reasonable.  They  explored  them 
thoroughly,  and  expressed  them  forever  in  imperishable 
forms. 

III.    THE  SOPHISTS  PERVERT  CHRISTIANITY. 

If  Greece  had  true  philosophers,  she  had  also  pseudo- 
philosophers  who,  unable  to  grasp  the  great  systems, 
quarreled  and  disputed  about  small  details  of  the  same, 
and  tried  to  break  up  the  work  of  the  great  masters. 
These  miserable  philosophasters  where  called  Sophists. 

If  the  great  minds  accepted  the  whole  of  Christianity, 
fully  and  generously,  the  small  minds  accepted  it  only  in 
part,  and  in  a  grudging  and  critical  spirit.  There  were 
superficial  and  vain  men  who  wanted  to  reconcile  the 
Pagan  systems  with  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  make  an 
eclectic  religion  of  their  own  by  fusing  them  together. 
Men  dominated  by  petty  ideas,  or  little-gifted  in  intellect, 
who  could  not  grasp  the  unity  or  the  loftiness  of 
Christianity,  wanted  to  fit  everything  into  their  own 
narrow  system.  Disappointed  men,  whose  ambition  could 
not  be  satisfied  by  such  positions  as  their  merits  entitled 
them  to,  hoped  to  rise  in  the  midst  of  confusion,  and  did 
not  hesitate  for  their  own  personal  ends  to  involve  the 
Church  and  State  in  endless  disputes  and  quarrels,  and 
even  civil  wars.  Such  men  formulated  new  doctrines  and, 
when  their  errors  were  exposed,  they  obstinately  clung  to 
them,  and  thus  became  formal  heretics.  A  heresy  is  a 
stubborn  adhesion  to  a  doctrine  condemned  by  the  Church 
of  God.  Those  who  simply  secede  from  the  Church  of  God, 
and  refuse  obedience  to  it,  without  renouncing  the  Apostolic 
faith,  are  called  Schismatics.  A  schism  is  the  breaking  off 
of  some  part  of  the  Church  from  the  living  whole.  It  is 
a  revolt  against  the  Pope,  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  ordinarily 
caused  by  personal  or  national  jealousy,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  great  Greek  Schism,  to  be  described  hereafter. 


62  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  Heretics  attacked  the  fundamental  tenets  of 
Christianity,  and  went  to  opposite  extremes.  Some  affirmed 
the  total  depravity  of  man,  and  others  denied  that  any 
depravitv  exists.  Some  denied  the  Divinity  of  Christ, 
others  affirmed  the  personal  separation  of  the  Divine  and 
human  natures,  while  others  denied  all  distinction  between 
them,  and  so  on. 

The  schismatics,  who  came  at  the  eleventh  hour, 
attacked  the  Divine  Kingdom  of  Christ,  denying  obedience 
to  His  one  Vicar  on  earth.  Christ  had  established  but 
one  Church  (Psalms  xiv,  1,  John  xvii,  21,  Ephesians  v, 
23 — 32)  and  prayed  and  suffered  for  her  alone;  and  now 
the  presumptuous  Byzantines  would  fain  establish  a  second 
one  in  the  seat  of  their  empire!  Christ  had  chosen  but 
one  Divine  Spouse,  and  made  her  independent  of  the 
powers  of  this  world.  Will  He  now  accept  at  human 
hands  a  second  one,  who  is  the  slave  of  the  Caesars  of 
Constantinople  ? 

Heretics  and  schismatics  were  faithless  to  Christ,  and 
prostituted  themselves  to  strange  imaginations  or  political 
idols,  just  as  the  Jews  of  old  had  gone  gadding  after  the 
gods  of  the  nations,  thus  meriting  the  oft  repeated  re- 
proaches of  the  Prophets  for  their  spiritual  adultery. 

IV.    TRIPLE  CONDEMNATION  OF  THE  SOPHISTS. 
1.    Condemnation  by  the  Doctors. 

Against  these  bold  innovators  arose  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church,  men  remarkable  for  their  extraordinary  virtue  and 
their  universal  learning.  They  are  called  Fathers  because 
they  lived  and  wrote  in  the  early  centuries  of  Christianity, 
and  by  their  labors  preserved  the  life  of  the  Church  safe 
and  sound.  The  most  illustrious  among  them  are  called 
Doctors  because  they  taught  and  defended  the  Apostolic 
doctrines  in  an  especially  masterly  way,  exposed  the  errors 
of  the  heretics,  and  stopped  their  mad  ravages.  There  were 
four  particularly  great  Doctors  in  the  Greek,  and  as  many 
more  in  the  Latin  Church.  The  names  of  the  Greek  Doc- 
tors were  Athanasius  and  Chrysostom,  Basil  and  Gregory 
of  Naziana.  The  names  of  the  Latin  Doctors  were  Ambrose 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  63 

and  Augustine,  Jerome  and  Gregory  the  Great.  The  Syrian 
Church  also  produced  two  distinguished  Doctors,  namely, 
S.  Ephraem,  and  St.  John  of  Damascus.  All  of  them  were 
true  disciples  of  the  great  philosophers  of  old,  and  deserve 
to  be  called  their  sons.  The  time  of  their  labors  consti- 
tuted the  second  great  period  of  philosophy,  and  it  was 
by  them  that  the  Christian  doctrine  was  reduced  into 
scientific  form. 

The  leaders  of  the  heretics  and  schismatics  were  only 
pigmies  beside  them,  and  did  nothing  but  pervert  the  salu- 
tary doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Doctors  of  the  Church  confounded  the  heretics  by 
revelation  as  well  as  by  reason.  They  had  one  great 
advantage,  the  comparative  recentness  of  the  revelation 
contained  in  the  Bible  and  the  Apostolic  Tradition.  In 
those  times  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  was  still  green 
in  the  memory  of  the  people  as  well  as  in  the  precious 
manuscripts  long  since  lost.  Thus  the  Doctors  had  the 
very  identical  text  of  the  inspired  books  which  were 
recognized  as  such  in  A.  D.  397.  They  had  also  the  living 
and  full  traditions  on  all  the  essential  points  of  the  faith 
fresh  from  the  Apostles.  With  such  recent  sources  of  evi- 
dence, it  was  easy  to  confound  the  false  teachers. 

2.    Condemnation  by  Councils. 

The  characteristic  trait  of  the  heretics  is  stubborn 
adherence  to  their  own  ideas,  and  devouring  activity  in 
the  propagation  of  these.  But  God  protects  His  flock 
against  the  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing  by  the  ministry  of 
the  Bishops,  and  especially  those  of  the  great  Apostolic 
See  of  Rome. 

"The  Holy  Ghost  has  placed  the  Bishops  to  rule  the  Church  of  God, 
which  He  has  purchased  with  His  own  blood  (Acts  xx,  28)." 

The  Bishops  are  the  official  judges  of  the  faith  in  their 
respective  dioceses;  they  must  examine  and  judge  new 
doctrines.  When  there  are  important  and  difficult  matters, 
all  the  Bishops  of  the  whole  world  met  in  what  is  called 
an  Ecumenical  or  General  Council.  Such  a  council  is  infal- 
lible through  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


64  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  first  council  of  Jerusalem  proclaimed  itself  inspired 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  saying:  "It  has  seemed  good  to  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  to  us  (Acts  xv,  28)." 

The  first  four  Ecumenical  Councils  were  held  in  such 
esteem  as  documents  of  Tradition,  that  they  were  com- 
pared to  the  four  Gospels.  At  the  following  General  Coun- 
cils their  Acts  and  Decrees  were  placed  beside  the  Gospels, 
and  no  one  was  allowed  to  question  again  what  had  been 
judged  by  them.  There  have  been  in  all  nineteen  Ecumeni- 
cal Councils,  which  makes  one  for  every  century,  though 
they  have  in  fact  been  held  at  irregular  intervals.  The 
decisions  of  an  Ecumenical  Council  are  most  solemn  and 
effective.  The  eyes  of  the  world  are  fixed  upon  the  cosmo- 
politan assembly  during  its  sessions,  and  when  its  mem- 
bers are  at  home  again  they  possess  more  zeal  and  more 
facility  for  putting  the  decrees  into  execution.  Divine  Pro- 
vidence seems  to  give  by  this  means  a  greater  sanction  to 
the  true  faith,  and  a  livelier  impulse  to  reformation.  In 
fact,  whenever  the  spirit  of  evil  seems  to  be  seducing  whole 
nations  and  to  threaten  the  very  existence  of  the  Church, 
an  Ecumenical  Council  puts  an  end  to  its  ravages.  Such 
a  gathering  combines  the  science  of  the  Doctors  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  Bishops;  it  is  visibly  seconded  by  Divine 
Providence,  and  always  produces  the  most  salutary  effects. 
It  is  a  remarkable  fact  of  history  that  all  the  Ecumenical 
Councils  have  been  preceded  by  alarming  disorders  and 
followed  by  a  period  of  true  peace  and  extraordinary 
virtue.  The  symptoms  were  frightful,  and  the  Church 
seemed  devoured  by  an  incurable  disease.  The  Fathers 
convened;  they  searched  into  the  evil,  and  prescribed  the 
remedy;  and  lo!  the  Church  renewed  her  youth,  and  pro- 
duced abundant  fruit  of  salvation.  Thus  out  of  evil  comes 
good.  A  salutary  reaction  follows,  and  a  great  movement 
in  the  direction  of  learning  and  virtue  sets  in.  How  won- 
derful are  the  works  of  God ! 

However,  the  Pope  remains  the  supreme  judge,  whom 
all  the  Bishops  recognize  as  their  head,  whether  singly  or 
collectively.  They  meet  at  his  call,  or  with  his  approval, 
and  send  their  decrees  for  his  approbation,  so  that  he  is 
the  final  judge.  Moreover,  at  times  he  has  to  be  the  only 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  65 

judge,  in  order  to  check  at  once  the  harm  intended  by 
heretics.  Sometimes  the  Bishops  could  not  be  gathered 
immediately,  and  the  field  would  be  open  to  the  frantic 
innovators.  But,  even  when  acting  alone,  as  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  teaching  authority  of  the  Universal  Church, 
the  Pope  is  endowed  with  infallibility  in  all  questions  of 
faith  and  morals,  and  can  decide  them  with  sovereign 
authority.  The  Holy  Ghost  assists  Peter  and  His  succes- 
sors "to  confirm  their  brethren  in  the  faith."  (Luke 
xxii,  32). 

3.    Condemnation  by  Divine  Providence. 

The  heretics  were  men  who  put  themselves  above  the 
whole  of  Christianity.  Beaten  on  scientific  and  religious 
grounds,  they  tried  to  spread  their  tenets  through  political 
machinations.  By  dint  of  servility,  intrigue  and  conces- 
sions they  had  gained  princes  and  governments  to  their 
side  and  caused  terrible  revolts.  Thus  no  heresy  or  schism 
has  ever  been  established  except  through  despotism  or 
revolution.  The  emperor  Cons  tan  ti  us  imposed  Arian 
confessions  of  faith  upon  ecclesiastical  councils  and  thrust 
Arian  Bishops  into  many  of  the  great  episcopal  sees. 
Other  emperors  were  found  to  prop  up  every  heresy  that 
arose,  and  the  future  seemed  to  belong  to  the  misbelievers. 
But  at  the  very  moment  of  seeming  triumph  the  heresies 
have  always  been  attacked  by  their  constitutional  disease 
of  internal  dissention,  which  sooner  or  later  undermines 
and  destroys  every  sect.  The  most  powerful  heresies  of 
the  early  centuries  were  in  the  end  abandoned  by  their 
followers,  who  either  apostatized  from  Christianity  al- 
together, or  returned  to  Catholic  faith  and  unity;  so  that 
those  great  sects  have  long  ago  either  utterly  disappeared 
or  dwindled  into  insignificant  factions.  The  nations  which 
persevered  in  heresy  or  schism  invariably  declined,  and,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  unfaithful  Jews  of  the  Old  Law,  fell 
under  the  power  of  their  neighbors.  The  once  flourishing 
East  has  become  the  prey  of  the  unspeakable  Turk.  The 
Nestorians  and  Eutychians,  the  Arian  Goths  and  Vandals, 
and  the  Schismatic  Greeks  have  groaned  for  centuries  under 
his  galling  yoke. 

5 


66  THE  THREE  AGES. 

In  modern  times  Protestantism  seemed  destined  to 
conquer  and  rule  the  world.  In  a  few  years  it  triumphed 
throughout  all  northern  Europe;  but  it  soon  came  to  a 
standstill  and  lost  all  its  southern  outposts ;  and  it  separ- 
ated into  hundreds  of  sects,  undergoing  so  many  trans- 
formations that  its  founders  would  hardly  be  able  to 
recognize  most  of  the  Protestants  of  to-day  as  their 
followers.  It  sowed  the  seeds  of  doubt,  and  now  millions 
are  relapsing,  under  its  influence,  into  Paganism;  while 
great  numbers  of  learned  men  are  returning  every  year  to 
the  Catholic  Church. 

The  present  political  situation,  in  its  relation  to 
religion,  may  appear,  at  the  first  glance,  to  be  very 
alarming.  Nearly  all  the  powers  of  the  world  are  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemies  of  the  Church.  Germany  and  England, 
two  of  the  nations  which  were  first  infected  by  Protes- 
tantism, together  with  the  colossal  empire  of  the  Czar, 
seem  to  dominate  the  world. 

Even  in  Catholic  lands,  the  governments  far  from 
upholding  the  Church  have,  for  a  century  past,  been,  in 
most  cases,  openly  or  secretly  hostile  to  it,  and  have  made 
laws  which,  in  their  cruel  enmity  to  our  holy  religion, 
outdo  the  worst  official  crimes  of  the  Protestant  nations. 
But  this  state  of  affairs  only  results  in  arousing  the 
Catholics  of  the  whole  world  to  unprecedented  activity, 
and  in  drawing  down  the  vengeance  of  God  upon  their 
oppressors. 

The  Church  regards  her  enemies  of  the  present  day 
with  the  same  equanimity  and  serene  confidence  with  which 
she  has  again  and  again  in  past  ages  faced  far  more 
formidable  foes.  Standing  firm  upon  the  rock  of  Divine 
truth,  she  knows  that  the  gates  of  Hell  can  never  prevail 
against  her.  Matt,  xvi,  18. 


CHAPTER  TENTH. 
HALF  WAY  CHRISTIANITY. 


Jesus  being  baptized,  forthwith  came  out  of  the  water;  and 
lo !  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  descended  as 
a  dove ;  and  behold  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying :  This  is  My 
beloved  Son,  in  Whom  I  am  well  pleased.  MATTHEW  in,  16,  17. 


I.  IS  JESUS  GOD  OR  MAN? 

A  FTER  Constantino  the  Great  had  proclaimed  Christi- 
anity the  religion  of  the  empire,  many  persons 
entered  the  Church  who  were  imbued  with  rationalistic 
principles,  and  actuated  by  worldly  motives.  They  at- 
tempted to  make  a  compromise  between  Pagan  mytho- 
logy and  Christian  theology,  and  to  place  Christ  among 
the  gods,  although  at  their  head.  Arius  formulated  these 
ideas,  and  taught  that  Christ  is  only  a  creature,  al- 
though immensly  superior  to  all  other  creatures.  The 
Christian  Bishops  pronounced  the  doom  of  Arianism  at 
the  Council  of  Nicea,  and  Anthanasius  fought  for  half  a 
century  to  maintain  the  belief  in  the  true  Divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  Greek  empire  strove  to  impose  the  false  doct- 
rine upon  the  world,  but  it  failed,  just  when  it  seemed  to 
have  succeeded. 

II.  THE  TWO  CHAMPIONS. 

Arius  was  a  priest  of  Alexandria,  distinguished  for 
learning  and  eloquence,  but  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  pride 
and  violence.  When  a  deacon,  he  compromised  himself  in 
the  Meletian  schism.  However,  he  was  absolved  and 
ordained  a  priest.  He  aspired  to  the  Patriachate  of  Alex- 


68  THE  THREE  AGES. 

andria,  and  when,  in  the  year  311,  St.  Alexander  was 
elected,  he  rose  up  against  him  and  took  this  occasion  to 
broach  a  new  heresy.  At  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  in  Alex- 
andria, he  declaired  his  belief  that  the  Son  of  God  is  not 
equal  to  the  Father.  The  rest  of  the  clergy  regarded  this 
as  a  direct  insult  to  Our  Savior.  The  Archbishop  endeav- 
ored to  gain  the  innovator  by  kindness,  but  that  only 
gave  him  time  to  spread  his  error  abroad.  Finally  Arius 
was  condemned  by  a  Council  of  the  Egyptian  Church,  at 
which  a  hundred  Bishops  were  present.  Then  he  went  to 
Palestine,  where  he  succeeded  in  deceiving  the  Bishops  of 
the  Syrian  Church,  and  in  being  illegally  relieved  trom 
censure.  There,  too,  he  gained  to  his  cause  the  tw^o  Euse- 
biuses :  the  first,  a  Bishop  of  Caesaria  who  was  a  re- 
nowned historian;  the  second,  a  courtier  who  by  the 
influence  of  Princess  Constantia  succeeded  in  usurping  the 
sees  of  Nicomedia  and  Constantinople.  Under  their  pro- 
tection Arius  spread  his  heresies,  which  he  propagated 
especially  by  popular  songs. 

Anthanasius,  whom  God  raised  up  to  oppose  this 
formidable  heresiarch.  was  endowed  with  deep  penetration, 
incisive  logic,  enrapturing  eloquence,  extraordinary  prudence 
and  invincible  fortitude.  Trained  in  the  austere  school  of 
St.  Anthony  of  the  Desert,  he  acquired  that  undaunted 
courage  and  persevering  energy  which  he  exhibited  against 
innumerable  adversaries.  While  he  was  yet  a  deacon,  he 
was  a  friend  and  counsellor  of  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria, 
and  notwithstanding  his  youth  he  was  elected  the  succes- 
sor of  that  prelate  in  328.  For  half  a  century  he  carried 
on  gigantic  struggles  againse  the  enemies  of  Christ.  His 
name  means  "immortal",  and  his  fame  will  live  as  long 
as  the  world  stands  and  as  long  as  Christ  reigns  in  Heaven. 

III.     THE  SOLEMN  JUDGEMENT. 

In  order  to  stop  the  dissensions,  Constantine  the  Great, 
in  concert  with  the  Pope,  convoked  the  Bishops  of  the 
Catholic  world  to  the  first  Ecumenical  Council,  which  was 
held  at  Nice,  in  A.  D.  325.  There  never  was  a  more  vener- 
able assembly.  Many  of  the  Bishops  had  already  been 
confessors  of  the  faith,  and  still  bore  the  marks  of  the 


HALF  WAY  CHRISTIANITY.  69 

wounds  received  for  Christ's  sake.  Paphmutius,  a  Bishop 
of  Upper  Egypt,  and  Osius,  of  Cordova,  in  Spain,  had  lost 
their  right  eyes  for  the  faith.  The  latter  presided  over  the 
Council  as  the  legate  of  the  Pope.  St.  Alexander  of  Alex- 
andria was  accompanied  by  the  young  deacon  Anthanasius, 
whose  name  became  the  bulwark  of  the  faith,  and  the 
central  figure  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  fourth 
century.  Three  hundred  and  eighteen  Bishops  came  from 
all  parts  of  the  world  to  confirm  by  their  solemn  testimony 
the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  the\'  had  confessed  be- 
fore their  tormentors.  The  living  echo  of  the  Apostolic 
Tradition,  they  linked  together  the  present  and  the 
Apostolic  times.  Arius,  regarding  the  Fathers  more  as  a 
legion  of  undaunted  martyrs  than  as  a  body  of  intellectual 
athletes,  hoped  to  lead  them  into  his  opinions. 

But  Eustatius  of  Antioch  and  Marcellus  of  Ancyra  ably 
refuted  him,  and  Athanasius,  the  theologian  of  Alexandria, 
overwhelmed  him  by  the  clearness  of  his  refutations.  Arius 
maintained  that  the  Word  was  made  from  nothing,  and 
was  the  creature  of  God,  albeit  more  perfect  than  all  His 
other  creatures.  He  thus  lowered  Christ  to  the  rank  of 
the  Pagan  gods,  and  made  of  Christianity  only  a  new 
form  of  idolatry.  The  orthodox  Bishops  were  unanimous 
in  amathematizing  his  impiety.  During  one  of  the  solemn 
sessions,  the  emperor,  clothed  in  brilliant  vestments,  occu- 
pied a  throne  of  gold  in  the  council  chamber.  Arius  was 
confounded  before  him.  As  his  disciples  resorted  to  subter- 
fuges, the  Bishops  defined  the  perfect  equality  of  the  Son 
with  the  Father,  by  the  word  "consubstantial",  i.  e.,  "of 
the  same  nature  and  substance",  and  they  emphasized 
their  declaration,  in  the  symbol  of  faith  then  drawn  up, 
which  is  now  known  as  the  Nicene  creed,  by  the  follow- 
ing words: 

"I  believe  in  one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God, 
born  of  the  Father  before  all  ages;  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  true 
God  of  true  God,  begotten  not  made,  consubstantial  with  the  Father, 
by  Whom  all  things  were  made." 

Constantine  declared  the  Counciliar  decrees  to  be  laws 
of  the  land.  Arius,  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  and  three  other 
recalcitrant  prelates,  were  banished  into  Illyria. 


70  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  Council  also  decreed  the  uniform  celebration  of 
Easter  on  SundaA^,  acknowledged  the  traditional  Primacy 
of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  and  declared  what  qualifications 
were  necessary  in  candidates  to  the  priesthood. 

IV.  FOTRYFIVE  YEARS  OF  STRUGGLE  AND  TRIUMPH. 

Athanasius  fought  for  half  a  century  to  defend  the 
Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  exiled  by  all  the  Govern- 
ments of  his  time,  but  he  overcame  their  rage,  and  was 
the  foremost  instrument  of  Divine  Providence  in  maintain- 
ing throughout  the  world  the  belief  in  that  fundamental 
dogma  of  our  religion.  By  dint  of  intrigues,  the  Arians 
won  the  emperors  over  to  their  side,  and  strove  to  gain 
possession  of  the  Patriarchal  sees.  On  her  deathbed  Con- 
stantia,  the  sister  of  Constantine,  asked  for  the  restoration 
of  Arius  and  obtained  it.  The  Arians  commenced  to  accuse 
Athanasius  of  all  kinds  of  crimes,  such  as  adulter\r,  sacri- 
lege and  murder,  and  succeeded  in  having  him  brought 
before  the  Council  of  Tyre,  composed  of  their  own  parti- 
sans. However,  their  accusations  were  victoriously  refuted. 
But  they  invented  another  calumny — that  of  monopolizing 
the  grain.  During  a  famine  Athanasius  had  bought  a 
quantity  of  grain  to  feed  the  poor,  but  this  was  made  the 
occasion  of  accusing  him  before  the  Emperor  as  a  speculator, 
and  he  was  exiled,  on  this  trumped-up  charge,  to  Treves 
in  Gaul,  were  he  remained  for  twenty-eight  months.  The 
Arians  thought  of  seating  their  master  on  the  Patriarchal 
throne  of  Alexandria,  but  he  was  driven  from  the  walls 
of  the  city.  Then  they  introduced  him  with  great  pomp 
into  Contantinople,  but  the  holy  Bishop  with  his  people 
had  fasted  for  seren  days  and  called  down  the  Divine 
vengeance  upon  the  heresiarch.  As  soon  as  Arius  had 
reached  the  public  square,  he  was  seized  with  a  nervous 
trembling,  and  asked  leave  to  retire  into  a  private  room. 
As  he  did  not  return,  his  partisans  entered  in,  and  found  him 
lying  drenched  in  his  own  blood,  with  his  entrails  gushing 
out.  They  themselves  trembled  before  this  horrible  spectacle, 
and  the  spot  of  his  tragic  death  ceased  to  be  frequented. 

In  337  Constantine  died  and  left  the  empire  to  his 
three  sons.  The  East  was  allotted  to  the  bitter  Arian 


HALF  WAY  CHRISTIANITY.  71 

Constantius.  Eusebius  soon  usurped  the  see  of  Constan- 
tinople, and  sent  two  intruders  to  the  see  of  Alexandria. 
Athanasius  fled  to  the  Pope,  who  held  a  council  at  Sardica 
to  reinstate  him.  But  five  years  elapsed  before  that  could 
be  effected.  In  350  Constantius  became  the  sole  emperor, 
and  for  ten  years  used  all  the  power  of  the  Roman  Empire 
in  behalf  of  the  half-Pagan  Arianism.  He  continually 
called  the  Bishops  to  councils  at  which  he  forced  them  to 
follow  his  dictation.  At  an  anti-council  of  Sirmium,  in 
Pannonia,  the  Arians  drew  up  the  first  symbol  of  Sirmium, 
in  equivocal  terms,  and  upon  the  strength  of  new  calumnnies 
condemned  Athanasius. 

Pope  Liberius  convoked  two  Councils,  one  at  Aries  in 
353  and  one  at  Milan  in  355.  But  the  emperor  intimidated 
them.  Entering  the  latter  with  drawn  sword,  he  exclaimed : 
"My  will  must  be  your  law;"  and  he  commanded  the 
Fathers  to  sign  the  condemnation  of  Athanasius,  under 
pain  of  being  sent  into  exile.  Five  Bishops  refused  and 
were  banished  at  once.  Others  signed  tremblingly,  and 
the  document  was  sent  to  Pope  Liberius.  The  undaunted 
Pontiff  repelled  it  with  indignation,  and  was  also  sent 
into  exile,  while  an  antipope  was  intruded  into  the  see  of 
Peter.  At  Alexandria  soldiers  were  sent  at  midnight  to 
storm  the  church  in  which  Athanasius  was  officiating. 
The  Bishop  refused  to  flee;  but  he  fell  into  a  swoon,  and 
was  borne  away  like  a  corpse.  A  few  days  later  he  was 
in  the  desert,  amidst  the  holy  monks,  were  he  remained 
for  seven  years.  An  illiterate  Cappadocian  named  Gregory 
attempted  to  occupy  his  see,  and  this  man  forced  his  way 
into  the  church  by  the  aid  of  Pagan  soldiers,  who  burned 
the  sacred  books  and  vessels,  and  brutally  outraged 
Christian  women  and  virgins.  Such  a  sacrilege  aroused 
a  general  indignation;  the  intruder  was  killed  by  the 
populace,  his  body  burnt,  and  the  ashes  thrown  into 
the  sea. 

Arianism  seemed  so  triumphant  that  St.  Jerome  after 
the  anti-council  of  Sirmium  exclaimed:  "The  whole  world 
groaned  to  find  itself  Arian".  Entrenched  in  the  foremost 
bishoprics  of  the  world,  and  supported  by  the  power  of 
the  Caesars,  it  held  a  second  anti-council  at  Sirmium 


72  THE  THREE  AGES. 

(A.  D.  357),  to  proclaim  the  false  faith  that  they  dreamed 
was  to  rule  the  earth.  The  Arian  bishops  of  the  West 
drew  up  a  formula  of  faith  teaching  that  the  Son  is 
entirely  different  from  the  Father.  But  that  same  year 
the  Arian  bishops  of  the  East  met  at  Ancyra,  and  pro- 
claimed that  the  Son  is  similar  to  the  Father.  Thus 
Arianism  was  split  into  the  factions  of  Arians  and  Semi- 
Arians.  It  found  itself  a  prey  to  that  internal  dissension 
which  infects,  undermines  and  finally  destroys  all  heresies. 
Constantius  assembled  a  third  anti-council  at  Sirmium, 
and  imposed  a  compromise  that  satisfied  nobody.  In  359 
he  gathered  the  Eastern  Bishops  at  Seleucia  and  the  Western 
Bishops  at  Rimini,  and  tried  to  impose  upon  them  all  his 
formula  of  faith,  lacking  the  word  "consubstantial".  At 
Rimini  they  resisted  for  seven  months  and,  though  they 
finally  gave  way,  under  compulsion,  they  retracted  the 
following  year,  as  soon  as  they  could  act  freely.  Pope 
Liberius,  who,  at  the  request  of  the  ladies  of  Rome,  had 
been  allowed  to  return  from  exile,  condemned  all  these 
false  councils. 

At  the  moment  when  Constantius  thought  that  he  had 
successfully  altered  the  Christian  religion  according  to  his 
plans,  he  was  dethroned  by  his  nephew,  Julian  the  Apostate, 
and  all  his  works  fell  to  the  ground.  Athanasius  returned 
admidst  the  joyous  acclamations  of  the  people.  He  was 
again  exiled  by  Julian  and  by  Valens,  but  was  every  time 
reinstated,  and  he  died  in  373  in  undisputed  possession  of 
the  Patriarchate.  Yalens  endeavored  for  ten  years  (367-378) 
to  revive  the  perishing  heresy,  but  without  any  success, 
within  the  empire.  He  succeeded,  however,  in  infecting 
with  the  heretical  poison  and  intolerance  the  barbarian 
tribes,  which  were  still  too  ignorant  to  detect  and  reject 
it  as  the  Greeks  had  done  as  soon  as  left  to  themselves. 
The  Ostrogoths  and  the  Vandals  became  very  violent  in 
their  persecutions  against  the  Church,  but  they  were  soon 
punished.  They  were  conquered  by  the  Greeks  in  the  years 
534  and  554,  and  their  names  disappeared  from  history. 
The  other  tribes  were  more  intelligent,  and  under  Gregory 
the  Great  (600)  embraced  the  true  faith.  As  for  Yalens 
he  was  attacked  by  the  Goths,  and,  having  been  defeated, 


HALF  WAY  CHRISTIANITY.  73 

he  was  burned  alive  in  the  hut  where  his  wounds  were 
being  dressed. 

What  is  most  striking  here  is  that  all  the  snares  of 
hell,  all  the  violence  and  all  the  wiles  of  the  heretics,  were 
in  vain,  and  failed  chiefly  as  a  result,  humanly  speaking, 
of  the  holiness,  the  eloquence  and  the  energy  of  one  man. 
Although  he  was  five  times  sent  into  exile,  and  although 
all  the  governements  of  the  world  were  arrayed  against 
him,  the  opposing  heresy  fell  just  when  it  seemed  to  have 
completely  triumphed.  Athanasius  was  Providentially 
brought  back  to  his  great  see  to  uphold  the  Divinity  of 
Tesus  Christ  before  the  world.  Arianism  disappeared  from 
the  empire  and  in  course  of  time  from  the  whole  world. 


CHAPTER  ELEVENTH.    [ 
HERESY  DISCARDED. 

There  must  be  heresies,  that  they  also   who   are   approved 
may  be  made  manifest  among  you.     I.  CORINTHIANS  xi,  19. 

I.    DOCTRINES  PUT  TO  A  TEST. 

heretics  attacked  one  after  another  all  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  for  centuries  sub- 
jected them  to  a  searching  trial.  In  the  West  the  Pelagians 
denied  the  corruption  of  human  nature  by  original  sin, 
while  the  Donatists  and  the  Manicheans  exaggerated  its 
effects;  and  they  thus  impugned  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
by  Christ  alone.  In  the  East  Arius  and  Macedonius 
attacked  the  Divinity  of  the  Second  and  Third  Persons  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity;  and  Nestorius  and  Eutyches  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Second  Person ;  while  some  of  the 
emperors  represented  the  homage  paid  to  His  images  and 
those  of  His  saints  as  idolatry.  The  heretics  would  have 
demolished  all  Christianity,  had  not  God  protected  it,  and 
the  Church  maintained  unflinchingly  the  true  and  moderate 
doctrine  against  the  quarrelling  extremists.  The  Church 
is  always  consistent  with  herself,  and  always  keeps  the 
middle  path  between  the  opposite  errors.  The  average  or 
intermediate  teaching,  resulting  from  the  fusion  of  the 
positive  elements  of  all  the  heresies  and  false  religions,  as 
if  by  a  composite  photograph,  would  correspond  with  the 
Catholic  doctrine. 

II.  HERESIES  AGAINST  THE  FALL  AND  THE  REDEMPTION. 

1.    Donatism. 

In  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  the  West  and  especially 
Africa  was  grievously  disturbed  by  schism  and  heresy. 
The  Novatians  refused  absolution  to  those  who  had 


HERESY  DISCARDED.  75 

apostatized  from  the  faith,  excluded  them  from  the  church 
forever  and  taught  that  there  remained  for  them  no  hope 
of  salvation.  The  Donatists  denied  the  Sacramental  power 
in  apostates,  and  arose  against  those  ordained  by  them. 
These  uncompromising  rigorists,  who  excluded  from  the 
ministry  forever  even  those  who  had  lapsed  into  external 
conformity  with  the  established  religion  under  the  stress 
of  the  fiercest  persecution,  disturbed  and  terrorized  Africa 
for  a  whole  century.  In  the  Council  of  Carthage,  St.  Au- 
gustine succeeded  in  bringing  many  of  them  back  to  the  com- 
forting truth  of  Catholicity  and  taught  that  every  crime  can 
be  forgiven  which  is  sincerely  repented  of.  Thus  they  were 
restored  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Church,  which  they  had 
abandoned,  strangely  enough,  precisely  out  of  excessive 
zeal  for  her  honor! 

2.  Manicheeism. 

There  arose  in  the  West  two  heresies  diametrically 
opposed  to  each  other,  denying  the  Fall  of  man  through 
Adam  and  his  Redemption  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  wit, 
Pelagianism,  which  denied  any  depravity  of  our  nature, 
and  Manicheeism,  which  affirmed  its  total  depravity.  Not 
only  science,  but  experience  as  well,  made  of  St.  Augustine, 
Bishop  of  Hippo,  a  powerful  antagonist  of  these  heresies. 
From  the  Persian  ideas  about  the  creation  of  the  material 
world  by  evil  spirits,  the  Manicheans  derived  the  theory 
that  our  bodies  are  evil  and  all  our  inclinations  are 
corrupt.  Driven  by  violent  passions,  St.  Augustine  became 
the  prey  of  this  heresy  for  nine  years.  But  in  389  he  found 
out  the  vanity  of  these  Asiatic  dreams,  and  he  worked 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  expose  their  falsity. 

3.  Pelagianism. 

In  411  the  British  monk  Pelagius  tried  to  fasten  upon 
Africa  a  heresy  diametrically  opposed  to  Manicheeism.  He 
pretended  that  man  received  no  supernatural  gifts  at  the 
beginning,  lost  none  by  original  sin,  and  needs  none  to 
attain  his  end  in  the  future  world.  St.  Augustine  knew 
the  corruption  of  our  nature  by  his  own  experience  in 
heresy  and  sin,  and  stood  up  against  these  flagrant  errors. 


76  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Pelagius  came  to  Carthage,  but  he  was  confuted  by 
St.  Augustine.  He  and  his  followers  went  to  other  places, 
but  the  disciples  of  St.  Augustine  followed  in  their  track 
and  exposed  their  errors.  In  the  year  416  great  Councils 
were  gathered  at  Carthage  and  Mileve,  which  solemnly 
affirmed  the  Apostolic  doctrine  that  the  sin  of  Adam  has 
passed  into  all  his  descendants,  and  that  without  a  super- 
natural strength  we  cannot  work  out  our  salvation.  The 
acts  of  these  Councils  were  sent  to  Pope  Innocent  I,  and 
returned  with  his  approbation.  Augustine  said  to  his 
people:  "Rome  has  spoken,  the  case  is  ended.  Would  that 
the  error  would  also  end!"  The  heresiarch  afterwards 
deceived  the  Pope  by  an  artfully-worded  profession  of  faith, 
but  a  new  Council  of  two  hundred  and  fourteen  Bishops 
exposed  his  fraud  and  informed  the  Pope,  who  excommuni- 
cated the  heretics  and  sent  an  encyclical  letter  on  the 
subject  to  the  whole  world. 

Some  priests  of  Marseilles  endeavored  to  introduce  a 
mitigated  form  of  Pelagianism  under  the  name  of  Semi- 
Pelagians  (427),  but  they  too  were  put  down  by  the  vigi- 
lance of  St.  Augustine  and  of  his  disciples  Fulgentius,  and 
others. 

III.    HERESIES  AGAINST  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

1.    Arianism. 

The  history  of  Arianism  has  been  given  at  length  in 
the  foregoing  chapter,  and  illustrates  the  course  of  all  the 

heresies. 

2.    Macedonianism. 

Macedonius  drove  St.  Paul,  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, from  his  see,  and  passed  over  the  bodies  of  3,000 
people  who  opposed  his  usurpation  of  the  Patriarchate. 
He  denied  the  Divinity  of  the  Third  Person  of  the  Blessed 
Trinity,  and  was  refuted  by  St.  Athanasius  and  condemned 
~by  the  Second  Ecumenical  Council,  which  was  held  at  Con- 
stantinople A.  D.  381. 

IV.    HERESIES  AGAINST  THE  INCARNATION. 

1.    Nestorianism. 

Nestorius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  was  very  zealous 
in  upholding  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  declared  It, 


HERESY  DISCARDED.  77 

however,  to  be  entirely  separate  from  His  humanity,  and 
admitted  only  an  accidental  union  between  the  two  beings. 
He  said  that  in  Christ  there  are  two  different  persons: 
the  Second  Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  who  is  God ;  and 
the  human  person,  Jesus,  who  was  brought  forth  by  the 
Virgin  Mary.  The  Divine  Person  only  dwells  and  works 
in  the  human  person,  and  Mary  cannot  be  called  the 
Mother  of  God.  When  this  blasphemy  was  first  heard  the 
people  left  the  church  in  disgust;  when  it  was  uttered 
again  they  rushed  out  with  loud  cries  of  indignation. 

St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  defended  the  true  doctrine  that 
the  Diviue  Son  took  to  Himself  a  human  nature,  drawing 
it  to  His  own  personality,  and  thus  constituted  the  one 
Person  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  showed  that  Mary  must  be 
called  the  Mother  of  God,  because 

"she  brought  into  the  world  the  Person  of  the  Eternal  Word,  clothed 
with  our  nature.  In  the  order  of  nature,  although  the  mother  has  no 
part  in  the  creation  of  the  soul,  still  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  she 
is  the  mother  of  the  whole  man,  and  not  simply  of  the  body." 

With  the  consent  of  Pope  St.  Celestine  I,  Emperor 
Theodosius,  the  Younger,  convoked  in  431  at  Ephesus  an 
Ecumenical  Council  which  was  the  third  of  the  series.  St. 
Cyril  presided  in  the  name  of  the  Roman  Pontiff.  Nestorius 
came  surrounded  by  a  guard,  under  Count  Candidian,  so 
strong  as  to  constitute  a  real  army.  His  friend  John  of 
Antioch,  with  the  other  Bishops  of  Syria,  delayed  on  the 
road,  and  Nestorius  refused  to  appear  before  the  Council, 
which  had  finally  to  be  opened  without  them.  The  Gospel 
was  placed,  as  usual,  in  a  central  position  in  the  church, 
because  Jesus  has  promised  to  be  in  the  midst  of  His 
Bishops  gathered  in  His  name.  The  Fathers  defined  that: 

"Christ  is  one  Divine  Person,  the  Eternal  Word  of  God,  substantially 
united  to  human  flesh,  so  that  He,  true  God,  and  the  Son  of  God  by 
nature,  was  born,  according  to  the  flesh,  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
who  consequently  is  truly  the  Mother  of  God." 

The  people  of  Ephesus  received  this  definition  with  great 
joy,  and  the  Fathers  added  to  the  Ave  Maria  the  words : 
"Holy  Mother  of  God,  pray  for  us  sinners,  now  and  in  the 
hour  of  our  death."  John  of  Antioch,  arriving  after  this 
decision,  assembled  an  anti-council,  and  Count  Candidian 
intercepted  the  letters  of  Ephesus  to  the  Emperor,  until 


78  THE  THREE  AGES. 

they  were   carried  to  Constantinople  in  the  hollow  of  a 
beggar's  cane. 

The  other  Bishops  finally  submitted,  but  Nestorius  per- 
sisted in  his  error  and  was  exiled.  After  twenty  years  of 
banishment,  he  died  in  Egypt,  his  impious  tongue  being 
devoured  by  worms  before  his  death. 

There  were  three  Nestorian  writings,  called  the  Three 
Chapters,  whose  authors,  having  by  the  condemnation  of 
Nestorius  implicitly  retracted,  were  not  condemned  at  the 
time.  These  were  subsequently  made  the  occasion  of  great 
trouble  by  the  Monophysites,  so  they  were  condemned  at 
the  fifth  general  council  (Constantinople,  A.  D.  553),  which 
condemnation  occasioned  dissatisfaction  in  the  West  and 
even  a  schism  in  Northern  Italy. 

A  large  portion  of  the  Syrian  Church  fell  away  from 
Catholic  unity  on  occasion  of  the  heresy  of  Nestorius. 
Nestorian  sectaries,  all  of  them  of  the  Syrian  (Syro-Chaldaic) 
Rite,  were  for  centuries  to  be  found  in  almost  every  por- 
tion of  the  Asiatic  continent,  and  some  have  gone  so  far 
as  to  claim  that  in  the  eleventh  century  they,  together 
with  the  Monophysites  were  as  numerous  as  the  Catho- 
lics and  the  Orthodox  combined.  Their  literary  activity 
was  very  great,  lasting  down  to  the  thirteenth  century. 
It  has  been  the  fate  of  all  the  heretics  to  dwindle  away. 
The  Nestorians,  too,  died  out,  were  extermenated,  or  forced 
to  apostatize,  the  Mongols  being  their  especial  scourge. 
Some  of  them  reverted  to  Paganism,  others  apostatized  to 
Islam.  The  half  of  those  of  India,  called  the  Christians  of 
St.  Thomas,  became  Catholics,  the  other  half  accepted  a 
Monophysite  Patriarch.  Most  of  those  of  Persia,  called 
the  Chaldean  Christians,  returned  to  Rome  especially  under 
their  Patriarch  Elias  ix  in  1780.  Of  late  years  a  few  have 
been  enticed  into  Protestant  sects,  while  quite  recently 
most  of  them  that  were  left  were  swallowed  up  by  the 
Russian  Schism.  There  are  not  100,000  of  Nestorians  left. 
The  whole  Syro-Chaldaic  and  Syro-Malabric  Rites  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  contain  200,000  and  300,000  souls 
respectively,  and  are  composed  of  the  descendants  of  Nes- 
torians who  at  various  times  have  abandoned  their  errors, 
and  returned  in  large  bodies  to  the  Church. 


HERESY  DISCARDED.  79 

2.    Monophysitism. 

Eutyches,  an  aged  abbot  of  Constantinople,  in  opposing 
the  heresy  of  two  persons  in  Christ  fell  into  the  opposite 
error  or  confounding  His  Divine  and  human  natures.  He 
thought  that  in  the  Incarnation  one  new  substance  was 
formed  by  the  fusion  of  the  two,  the  Divinity  taking  the 
place  of  the  soul  and  the  flesh  being  raised  to  a  higher 
nature.  He  admitted  only  one  nature,  which  error  was 
expressed  by  the  Greek  word  Monophysitism.  He  was 
condemned  in  the  council  convened  by  St.  Flavian,  Patri- 
arch of  Constantinople,  and  by  a  dogmatic  letter  of  Pope 
Leo  the  Great.  His  partisans  pretended  to  relieve  him 
from  censure  by  the  act  of  the  "Robber  Council  of  Ephe- 
sus",  so  called  because  its  proceedings  were  like  a  meeting 
of  brigands.  Soldiers  entered  the  halls  with  heavy  chains, 
threatening  those  who  would  not  absolve  Eutyches.  They 
maltreated  St.  Flavian  so  horribly  that  he  died  three  days 
after  the  adjournment  of  this  utterly  irregular  synod. 

In  451  the  Emperor  Marcian  and  his  wife  Pulcheria 
convoked  the  fourth  Ecumenical  Council  at  Chalcedon,  a 
suburb  of  Constantinople.  Six  hundred  Bishops  attended. 
The  Papal  legates  presided.  The  dogmatic  letter  of  Pope 
Leo  was  read  and  received  with  acclamations  by  the 
Bishops,  who  exclaimed:  "This  is  the  faith  of  the 
Fathers.  This  is  the  faith  of  the  Apostles.  All  of  us 
have  the  same  belief.  Peter  has  spoken  by  the  mouth 
of  Leo!"  The  Council  drew  up  a  profession  of  faith 
designed  to  meet  both  the  Eutychian  and  Nestorian  here- 
sies, both  of  which  it  distinctly  and  finally  condemned.  It 
defined  that  "there  are  two  natures  in  Christ,  one  Divine, 
the  other  human,  united,  without  mixture  or  alteration, 
in  one  Person,  which  is  that  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
Hence  it  was  equally  hated  and  dreaded  by  the  followers 
of  both  heresies.  The  Eutycheans  drove  away  or  killed 
the  Patriarchs  of  Alexandria,  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  and 
made  themselves  the  masters  of  their  sees.  They  formed  a 
schism  from  484  to  519,  but  quarreled  among  themselves. 
Emperor  Zeno  tried  to  unite  them  by  his  decree  of  union 
called  "Henoticon",  but  he  only  caused  new  divisions. 
Their  power,  after  being  greatly  weakened  by  dissensions, 


I 


80  THE  THREE  AGES. 

was  broken  by  the  Emperor  Justinian  the  Great  (527 — 568), 
who  ordered  all  his  subjects  to  receive  the  Four  Councils. 
However,  the  energy  of  Jacobus  Barnadeus,  Bishop  of 
Edessa  (A.  D.  541)  prevented  their  extinction.  He  reunited 
them,  and  ordained  thousands  of  priests,  and  after  him 
the  Monophysites  of  Syria  are  called  Jacobites.  After  a 
few  centuries  of  feverish  activity  and  apparent  success, 
Monophysitism  entered  upon  the  inevitable  period  of  de- 
cline. That  portion  of  the  Syrian  Church  which  had  held 
out  against  Nestorianism  succumbed  to  the  error  of 
Eutyches,  with  the  exception  of  the  ever-faithful  Christians 
of  Mt.  Lebanon,  and  a  small  fraction  of  the  population 
most  directly  under  the  Imperial  influence,  chiefly  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  great  capitals.  Nearly  all  the  Egyptian 
Church  fell  into  the  same  error,  and  in  Egypt,  as  in  Syria, 
the  city  population  who  remained  orthodox  became  popu- 
larly known  as  the  Melchites,  or  " Imperialists".  The 
Armenians  failed  to  take  part  in  the  Council  of  Chalcedon, 
or  to  give  in  their  adhesion  to  its  decrees.  Isolated  in 
their  distant  mountains,  they  lapsed  into  seperatistn  at 
that  time,  and,  while  some  charge  them  with  having  ex- 
plicitly adopted  the  Monophysite  heresy,  some  of  their 
apologists  deny  this,  and  assert  that  it  was  by  accident, 
and  not  from  any  attachment  to  the  doctrines  of  Eutj^ches, 
that  they  failed  to  be  represented  at  Chalcedon  or  to  hold 
any  further  communication  with  the  Catholic  Church. 

There  remain  at  the  present  time  forty  or  fifty  thousand 
Monophysites  of  the  Syrian  Rite,  called  Jacobites,  about 
100,000  of  the  pure  Coptic  or  Egyptian  Rite,  and  about 
800,000  of  the  Ethiopic  or  Abyssinian  branch  of  the  Coptic 
Rite,  these  constituting  distinct  but  friendly  sects.  There  are 
also  about  2,300,000  members  of  the  Armenian  Rite  in  the 
Gregorian  sect,  which  is  usually  reckoned  as  Monophysite. 

All  the  Catholics  of  the  pure  Coptic  and  Coptic-Ethiopic 
Rites,  numbering  between  40,000  and  50,000,  and  rapidly 
increasing  by  a  steady  stream  of  conversions  since  the 
reastablishment  of  the  Coptic  Patriarchate  of  Alexandria 
in  1897,  are  the  descendants  of  Monophysite  heretics  who 
have  from  time  to  time  returned  to  the  true  religion.  The 
same  is  true  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  Catholics  of  the 


HERESY  DISCARDED.  8.1 

pure  Syrian  Rite,  about  65,000  in  number.  The  ancestors 
of  the  Catholics  of  the  Armenian  Rite,  about  225,000  in 
number,  were  for  several  generations  members  of  the 
Gregorian  sect. 

3.    Monothelitism. 

Sergius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  endeavored  to 
unite  Catholics  and  Monophysites  by  the  compromise 
doctrine  that,  although  there  are  two  natures  in  Christ, 
there  is  only  one  will.  Stormy  debates  followed.  In  638 
the  Emperor  Heraclius  published  his  "Ecthesis",  or  explan- 
ation of  the  faith,  imposing  silence  regarding  the  question 
of  the  two  wills;  and  Pope  Honorius  did  not  make  any 
objection  to  Sergius.  After  a  series  of  horrible  tragedies, 
Constant  II.  (642—668)  ascended  the  throne  and,  although 
the  Mohammedans  had  invaded  the  country,  he  spent  his 
time  meddling  with  religious  controversies,  and  again  for- 
bade all  discussion,  by  his  document  called  the  "Type". 
Pope  Martin  condemned  him,  and  also  the  Ecthesis 
published  by  his  predecessor,  at  the  Lateran  synod  of  649 ; 
but  the  bold  Pontiff  was  made  a  prisoner,  dragged  to  Con- 
stantinople, publicly  insulted,  and  finally  sent  into  exile, 
where  he  died  four  month  later. 

With  the  consent  of  the  Pope,  Constantine  IV.  convoked 
at  Constantinople  the  sixth  Ecumenical  Council  (680), 
which  condemned  Monothelitism  and  excommunicated  all 
its  ecclesiastical  abettors.  It  also  seems  to  have  blamed 
Pope  Honorius  for  his  negligence  in  putting  down  the 
heresy ;  \vhich  fact  certain  misguided  persons  have  adduced 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Roman 
Pontiffs,  though  without  any  ground  whatsoever. 

Monothelitism  soon  died  out.  Some  have  charged  the 
Maronites  or  Christians  of  Mt.  Lebanon  and  northern 
Galilee  (numbering  about  175,000),  with  having  been  at 
one  time  followers  of  this  heresy,  but  they  vehemently 
resent  this  unflattering  charge,  and  glory  in  their  un- 
deviating  loyalty  to  Catholic  faith  and  unity,  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  Oriental  Church,  ever  since  the  time 
when  they  first  received  the  Gospel  from  the  lips  of  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself. 

6 


82  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Superficial  men  see  only  questions  of  words  in  the  long 
and  bitter  disputes  which  agitated  the  Church  in  those 
times,  but  they  were  matters  of  fundamental  importance, 
for  the  very  Divinity  and  work  of  Our  Savior  was  at  stake. 
If  they  had  not  been  settled  by  the  Church  of  God,  they 
would  have  destroyed  the  very  essence  of  Christianity. 
But  the  ingenuity  of  the  Greek  mind  discarded  the  fatal 
heresies,  after  they  had  been  tested  and  found  wanting  by 
the  Doctors,  and  condemned  by  the  proper  authority.  The 
heresies  that  seemed  to  possess  the  whole  empire,  and 
agitated  it  for  generations,  were  abandoned  and  dis- 
appeared ;  while  the  true  Church  of  God  remained  impregn- 
able in  the  midst  of  the  stormy  discussions. 


CHAPTER  TWFLFTH. 
RUINOUS  SCHISM. 

I  besech  you  brethren  on  the  name  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
that  you  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  schisms 
among  you,  but  that  you  be  perfect  in  the  same  mind  and  the 
same  judgment.  There  are  contentions  among  you  .  .  .  Every 
one  of  you  saith  :  I  indeed  am  of  Paul,  and  I  am  of  Apollo,  and 
I  of  Cephas,  and  I  of  Christ.  Is  Christ  divided  ?  Was  Paul 
crucified  for  you  ?  1.  CORINTHIANS  10 — 13. 

I.    DECAY  OF  GREEK  CHURCH. 

Greek  Church  had  produced  an  immense  number  of 
Confessors  and  a  brilliant  school  of  Doctors.  No 
wonder  that  at  all  times  the  Evil  One  had  tried  to  sow 
the  poisonous  seeds  of  heresy  and  schism  among  her 
members.  She  eluded  the  sophisms  of  the  heretics,  to  which 
the  Syrian,  Coptic  and  Armenian  Churches  had  so  largely 
succumbed,  but  she  fell  a  prey  to  the  intrigues  of  the 
schismatics.  She  had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  shock  of  the 
great  heresies  which  had  attacked  the  fundamental  dogmas 
of  the  Christian  faith.  It  was  in  her  bosom  that  the  first 
eight  Ecumenical  Councils  were  held,  the  first  four  of  which 
settled  forever  the  mooted  questions  about  the  manner  of 
the  union  of  God  and  man  in  Jesus  Christ.  However, 
several  causes  conspired  to  lower  her  high  standard.  The 
growing  custom  of  the  marriage  of  the  clergy  cooled  the 
zeal  of  the  priests,  the  vandalism  of  the  Iconoclasts  shoock 
the  piety  of  the  people,  and  the  jealous  spirit  of  the  "new 
Rome"  towards  the  old,  finally  led  to  a  formal  schism  of 
the  Greek  Patriarchates  from  the  Church  of  God.  The 
result  was  oppression  by  emperors,  czars  and  sultans, 
internal  divisions,  and  complete  sterility,  which  weighed 
like  a  tombstone  upon  the  miserable  (populations  of  even 
the  "Orthodox"  East. 


84  THE  THREE  AGES. 

II.     CAUSES  OF  THE  SCHISM. 
1.    Decline  of  Clerical  Celibacy. 

By  celibacy  the  clergy  not  only  renounce  the  pleasures, 
but  also  escape  the  cares,  of  family  life,  and  are  enabled 
to  devote  themselves  wholly  to  the  interests  of  the  family 
of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  the  Christian  flock.  Thus  they 
secure  independence  and  effective  influence. 

The  Apostles  and  their  first  successors  lived  according 
to  that  high  ideal  of  the  priesthood.  If  in  the  pressing 
need  of  priests  and  missionaries  married  men  were  some- 
times admitted  to  holy  orders,  they  were  never  raised  to 
the  Episcopate  unless  they  became  celibates.  In  the  West 
the  Councils  of  Elvira  (A.  D.  305)  and  Aries  (314)  required 
that  all  clerics  in  major  orders  should  abstain  from 
marriage.  In  the  East  the  Council  of  Ancyra  (314)  gave 
deacons  permission  to  marry  after  having  taken  holy 
orders,  but  this  was  done  in  defiance  of  the  prohibitory 
decree  of  the  first  Ecumencial  Council  ofNicea  (A.  D.  325). 

In  692  the  Thrullian  Council  of  Constantinople  allowed 
marriage  to  priests  before  their  ordination,  and  denied  it 
only  to  Bishops.  Pope  St.  Sergius,  refusing  to  sanction 
this  measure,  was  threatened  with  prison  by  Greek  soldiers, 
but  saved  by  the  Italians.  The  Emperor  Justinian  II.  sent 
the  decrees  again  to  John  VIII.,  who  for  several  reasons 
returned  them  without  comment,  and  his  silence  was 
represented  as  an  approbation.  The  marriage  of  clergy- 
men became  more  common  and  subjected  them  to  wordly 
cares  and  ambitions.  The  sublime  spirit  of  the  priesthood 
had  in  great  measure  departed  from  them,  aud  their  zeal 
for  God's  cause  became  tepid  or  wholly  disappeared. 
Centuries  later  certain  tyrannical  emperors  of  Germany 
attempted  to  intrude  incontinent  clergymen  into  the  sanctu- 
ary, but  they  were  combatted  and  effectually  thwarted  by 
the  heroic  Pope  Gregory  VII.,  who  was  largely  successful 
in  freeing  the  Western  Church  from  a  lustful  and  worldly 
clergy. 

2.    Iconoclasm  of  the  Emperors. 

Adopting  the  Mohammedan  ideas  concerning  the  use 
of  images,  the  soldier-emperor  Leo  the  Isaurian  pretended 


RUINOUS  SCHISM.  85 

that  all  religious  pictures  and  statues  are  idols,  and  declared 
(A.  D.  726)  a  war  of  extermination  against  them.  Although 
he  was  without  learning,  having  been  born  and  bred  in  a 
camp,  he  maintained  his  views  against  the  learned  demon- 
strations of  St.  John  of  Damascus,  and  the  official  declara- 
tions of  the  Popes.  He  ordered  the  destruction  of  the 
images,  whence  he  and  his  successors  were  called  Image- 
breakers  or  Iconoclasts,  and  he  threw  the  whole  empire 
into  convulsions,  and  would  have  lost  all  Italy  had  not 
the  Popes  Gregory  II.  and  III.  defended  his  side.  Leo's 
son  Constantine  V.,  called  Copronymus  (741 — 755),  was 
still  more  violent  against  images.  He  forced  the  Bishops 
gathered  in  a  schismatical  council  to  decree  that  the  art  of 
painting  is  accursed  and  an  invention  of  the  Devil. 
Libraries  were  destroyed  and  monasteries  demolished ;  and 
the  monks,  who  were  the  best  artists  of  the  time,  were 
the  object  of  the  most  violent  persecution.  Some  were 
thrown  into  the  sea  with  a  stone  on  their  necks;  others 
had  their  eyes  plucked  out  or  their  hands  cut  off.  When 
Stephen  was  cast  into  jail,  he  found  there  343  monks  who 
had  all  been  deprived  of  some  of  their  members  and  were 
awaiting  death.  Copronymus  died  of  ulcers,  and  his  bones 
were  burned  in  the  place  of  execution.  The  general  pro- 
fanation of  objects  of  devotion  and  the  desecration  of  all 
that  the  people  had  respected  as  holy,  shook  their  piety, 
destroyed  their  fervor  and  weakened  their  allegiance  to  the 
Catholic  religion. 

With  the  Pope's  consent,  the  Empress  Irena  convened 
the  seventh  General  Council  at  Nicea  in  787,  which  decreed 
that  images  of  Our  Savior  and  His  saints  should  not 
only  be  put  in  churches,  but  also  in  houses  and  on 
the  roadsides,  because  they  remind  us  of  those  they  re- 
present. As  for  the  charge  of  idolatry,  it  was  answered 
that  the  homage  is  not  paid  to  the  image,  but  to  the 
original,  in  his  title  of  God  or  servant  of  God.  The 
Emperor  Leo  V.,  "the  Armenian",  began  a  new  de- 
struction of  images,  but  the  Empress  Theodora  (A.  D. 
842)  restored  their  veneration,  and  celebrated  a  pompous 
procession  in  their  honor,  which  is  still  observed  to  this 
da. 


86  THE  THREE  AGES. 

3.      Constantinople's  Jealousy  of  Rome. 

Constantinople  claimed  to  be  the  new  Rome.  Her  am- 
bitious Patriarch,  though  their  dignity  was  of  recent 
creation,  aspired  to  rank  as  high  as  the  Patriarchs  of  old 
Rome,  pretending  that  this  was  due  to  them  as  Bishops 
of  the  capital  city  of  the  empire ;  and  tyrannical  emperors 
who  had  a  mania  for  meddling  in  Church  affairs  favored 
the  idea  of  minimizing  the  Papal  sovereignty,  because  that 
would  make  them  the  masters  of  the  Greek  Church. 

II [.    INSTRUMENTS  OF  THE  SCHISM. 

The  wily  Photius  and  the  haughty  Cerularius  were  the 
instruments  to  bring  about  the  secession.  St.  Ignatius 
excommunicated  the  Caesar  Bardas  for  his  numerous 
crimes  and  his  oppression  of  tne  empress  St.  Theodora, 
whereupon  the  emperor  pretended  to  depose  him,  in  857. 
In  five  days  a  layman  by  the  name  of  Photius  was,  by 
the  imperial  orders,  consecrated  Bishop  and  intruded  into 
the  Patriarchal  see.  He  was  one  of  the  most  learned,  but 
also  one  of  the  most  crafty  men  of  his  age.  He  \vrote  to 
Pope  St.  Nicholas  I,  with  feigned  humility,  that  he  had 
been  forced  to  assume  the  burden  of  the  Episcopate,  and 
asked  the  Pontiffs  approbation;  and  he  even  succeeded  in 
deceiving  the  Apostolic  legates  sent  to  investigate  the 
matter.  But  Ignatius  repaired  to  Rome,  where  a  Council 
was  held  in  which  he  was  vindicated  and  the  intruder 
deposed.  In  these  straits,  Photius,  not  to  be  foiled  in  his 
evil  ambition,  decided  to  take  a  step  of  incalculable  conse- 
quences: a  formal  schism  from  Rome.  He  pretended  that 
with  the  seat  of  empire  the  Primacy  had  also  be  ?n  trans- 
ferred from  Rome  to  Constantinople,  and  he  held  a  synod 
which  purported  to  excommunicate  the  Pope  himself,  in 
the  year  866.  He  also,  in  his  insane  malignity,  accused 
the  Popes  of  heresy,  for  the  addition  to  the  Nicene  Creed 
of  the  word  Filioque,  signifying  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  from  the  Son  as  well  as  the  Father. 

That  same  year  Basil  the  Macedonian  killed  Bardas, 
and  the  following  year  he  ascended  the  throne,  which  his 
dynasty  occupied  during  two  centuries.  He  drove  Photius 
from  his  usurped  see,  and  re-installed  St.  Ignatius,  in  accor- 


RUINOUS  SCHISM.  87 

dance  with  the  Papal  decision.  In  869  the  eigth  Ecumenical 
Council  condemned  Photius  and  his  puerile  quibbles,  and 
insisted  anew  upon  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiifs. 
This  was  a  solem  testimony  of  the  Greek  Hierarchy  to 
the  obligation,  which  it  has  so  frequently  violated  and  so 
reqeatedly  recognized  anew,  of  adherence  to  Catholic  unity. 
But  the  wily  courtier  knew  how  to  gain  the  vain  and  low- 
born emperor ;  he  forged  a  pedigree  in  which  Basil  appeared 
as  a  descendant  of  Tiridates,  an  ancient  king  of  Armenia, 
and  thus  he  threw  the  lustre  of  antiquity  and  royalty  over 
his  house.  At  the  death  of  Ignatius,  Photius  was  accord- 
ingly promoted  by  the  emperor  to  the  Patriarchal  throne 
he  had  before  unlawfully  occupied.  Rome  was  asked  to 
recognize  him,  in  spite  of  his  own  refusal  to  submit  to  the 
authority  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  He  convoked  a  schis- 
matical  council  at  Constantinople,  at  which  he  and  his 
satellites  accused  the  Popes  of  having  usurped  unlawful 
power,  and  changed  the  belief  of  the  Church  concerning 
the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the  Son.  They 
deceived  the  Papal  legates,  who  were  ignorant  of  the  Greek 
language;  declared  the  Eight  General  Council  abrogated, 
rejected  the  doctrine  of  the  Pilioque  clause,  and  utterly 
disregarded  the  Acts  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs.  But  the 
Emperor  Leo  the  Philosopher  (886)  finally  deposed  the 
schismatic  patriarch,  relegated  him  to  a  monastery,  where 
he  died,  and  returned,  with  the  now  utterly  subservient 
Greek  Hierarchy,  into  the  communion  of  the  Universal 
Church. 

In  the  year  1054  the  narrow-minded  and  stubburn 
Michael  Cerularius  was  made  Patriarch,  who  revived  the 
ridiculous  pretensions  of  Photius  by  claiming  independence 
of  Rome.  Together  with  the  metropolitan  of  Bulgaria  he 
renewed  the  silly  charges  against  the  Latins,  and  pretended 
to  excommunicate  the  Pope  and  the  whole  Western  Church. 
Pope  St.  Leo  IX.  dispatched  a  legacy  to  the  haughty  pre- 
late, which  was  not  recognized  or  received  by  him.  See- 
ing that  he  rejected  every  offer  of  reconciliation,  the 
Apostolic  legates,  on  the  16th  of  July,  1054,  solemnly 
deposited  a  bull  of  excommunication  upon  the  altar  of  the 
Patriarchal  cathedral  of  St.  Sophia,  and  departed.  The 


88  THE  THREE  AGES. 

emperor  recalled  them,  but  he  was  accused  of  betraying 
the  Greek  interests  and  dethroned,  through  the  machi- 
nations of  Celarius,  in  1057,  and  Michael  Comnenus 
ascended  the  throne.  The  schismatic  patriarch  became 
so  overbearing,  however,  that  the  new  emperor  had  to 
remove  and  exile  him  to  an  island  where  he  died  in  1059. 
Nearly  all  the  Greek  Rite  was  involved  in  the  schism, 
which  now  became  chronic,  with  the  exception  of  that 
portion  of  it  within  the  limits  of  the  Roman  Patriarchate. 
But  the  Russian  Church  knew  nothing  of  what  was  going 
on  and  did  not  voluntarily  participate  in  the  crime  of  the 
mother-Church  of  Constantinople  until  the  twelfth  century. 
Divided  as  it  was  into  isolated  principalities,  and  subject 
after  the  first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century,  to  the 
Kakhans  of  the  Pagan  Mongols,  it  probably  did  not,  as 
a  whole,  become  consciously  schismatic,  until  the  rise  of  the 
modern  Russian  empire,  under  Ivan  the  Great  (1462 — 1505). 

IV.    TERRIBLE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  SCHISM. 

By  their  selfish  ambition  the  schismatic  patriarchs 
enslaved  to  the  Byzantine  tyrants  nearly  all  the  Greek 
Rite,  including  the  feeble  remnant  of  the  orthodox  Syrian 
Church  (outside  of  Mt.  Lebanon  and  vicinity),  which  they 
hastened  to  despoil  of  their  venerable  Rite,  imposing  their 
own  in  its  place.  The  ultimate  result  of  the  schism  was 
to  fasten  the  yoke  of  Islam  on  the  whole  Christian  orient. 

Left  to  itself  and  deprived  of  the  unfaltering  authority 
of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  the  Greek  episcopate  became  the 
tool  of  the  meddling  emperors,  who  treated  the  sect  they 
had  founded  as  a  department  of  the  State.  The  lower 
clergy,  burdened  with  families,  had  to  struggle  to  make  a 
living,  and  lost  all  influence.  The  dignities  were  auctioned 
off  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  the  higher  clergy,  losing 
sight  of  the  glory  of  God,  were  absorbed  with  temporal 
concerns.  Wide-spread  corruption  of  all  kinds  among  clergy 
and  people,  an  increased  despotism  on  the  part  of  the 
emperors,  and  the  rapid  decline  of  the  empire  in  every 
respect,  even  as  regards  its  material  prosperity,  were 
among  the  most  marked  consequences  of  the  schism.  The 


RUINOUS  SCHISM.  89 

greater  part  of  the  Eastern  seperatists  are  now  subject, 
both  politically  and  ecclesiastically,  to  the  Czar  of  Russia, 
who  is  yet  more  despotic  than  the  Greek  Emperors,  and 
banishes  into  Siberia  those  who  refused  to  obey  his  orders. 
The  schismatics  have,  on  no  less  than  fourteen  distinct 
occasions,  solemnly  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  and  thus  returned  to  Catholic  unity;  but 
the  reconciliation  has  in  most  cases  been  only  of  short 
duration,  and  the  bitter  and  unreasonable  prejudices 
created  by  the  wicked  men  who  first  inaugurated  the 
schism  have  continued  to  find  expression  in  many  and 
diverse  \vays.  When  the  Seljukian  and  Ottoman  Turks 
threatened  all  the  Christian  nations  with  utter  destruction, 
the  schismatic  Greeks  refused  to  join  the  Crusaders  in 
resisting  the  aggressions  of  Islam.  Even  at  the  last 
moment,  when  the  magnanimous  Constantine  XII,  the 
last  representative  of  the  enfeebled  and  depopulated  rem- 
nant of  the  Byzantine  empire,  fought  on  the  ramparts  of 
the  doomed  city,  the  infatuated  population  insulted  the 
Genoese  and  Venetian  soldiers  who  had  hastened  to 
their  defense.  But  they  had  filled  up  the  measure  of 
the  God's  patience.  Four  centuries  after  the  Apostolic 
legates  had  left  St.  Sophia,  Constantinople  was  taken 
by  Mohammed  II,  in  1453;  and  on  that  occasion 
40,000  Greeks  were  slain,  and  56,000  more  were  made 
bondsmen  to  the  Turks.  At  the  Council  of  Florence 
the  Orthodox  East  had  become  Catholic  again,  but  the 
repentance  was  too  late,  and  too  imperfect,  to  avert  the 
Divine  vengeance  so  repeatedly  provoked.  The  Byzantines, 
Who  had  so  often  preferred  the  rule  of  worldly  tyrants  to 
that  of  Almighty  God,  were  now  forced  to  accept  a  schis- 
matic patriarch,  or  rather  anti-patriarch,  at  the  hands  of 
their  Mohammedan  conquerors,  in  lieu  of  their  good 
Catholic  Patriarch  who  was  deposed  and  banished.  The 
insolent  prelates  who  had  revolted  against  the  authority 
of  the  Vicar  of  Christ  were  now  henceforth  obliged  to 
receive  their  pastoral  staffs  from  a  barbarian  infidel.  The 
cathedral  and  all  the  stone  churches  were  taken  by  the 
Turks  and  used  as  mosques.  The  Greeks,  crushed  under 
excessive  taxes,  and  deprived  of  all  civic  rights,  were 


90  THE  THREE  AGES. 

quickly  decimated.  Multitudes  of  their  daughters  from 
that  time  to  this  have  become  the  prey  of  Mohammedan 
polygamy.  Multitudes  of  their  sons  have  been  snatched 
away  and  reared  as  Mohammedans,  to  be  incorporated 
into  Turkish  armies.  It  is  now  already  400  years  that 
the  Greeks  have  groaned  under  that  bitter  yoke,  which 
has  not  been  lifted  to  this  very  day. 

The  Greek  Schism  is  a  purely  state  institution,  and 
extends,  declines  and  perishes  with  the  governments  of 
which  it  is  a  parasite.  After  the  Byzantine  empire  fell,  the 
schismatic  see  of  Constantinople,  which  was  its  creature, 
rapidly  lost  its  prestige.  In  1585  the  Russians  bought 
from  Jeremiah  II,  anti-patriarch  of  Constantinople,  the 
right  of  having  a  "patriarch"  of  their  own  in  the  person 
of  the  Bishop  of  Moscow.  About  the  same  time  (1593) 
the  old  metropolitan  see  of  Kiew  returned  to  the  Catholic 
communion,  with  all  its  suffragan  sees.  Previous  recon- 
ciliations had  taken  place  in  the  13th  and  15th  centuries 
between  this  most  venerable  portion  of  the  Russian  Church 
and  the  Holy  Roman  See,  but  owing  to  the  influence  of 
the  newly  established  czardom  none  were  lasting. 

In  1723  Peter  the  Great,  Czar  of  Russia,  suppressed 
the  Moscow  "patriarchate",  which  he  found  still  to  inde- 
pendent to  suit  his  purposes,  and  replaced  it  by  the  so- 
called  Holy  Synod,  composed  of  fourteen  members,  several 
of  them  lay  officials.  Against  the  authority  of  that  auto- 
cratic court  there  soon  arose  innumerable  sects,  whose 
followers  are  indiscriminately  termed  by  the  members  of 
the  state  church  Raskolniks  (dissenters),  and  number  about 
15,000,000.  Several  times  the  Czars  have  forced  millions 
of  their  unwilling  subjects,  most  of  them  Catholics  and  the 
remainder  chiefly  Protestants  or  Pagans,  into  the  sect  by 
law  established.  They  have  always  shown  themselves 
especially  hostile  towards  the  Greek  Catholics,  and  only  a 
few  months  ago  the  reigning  Czar  granted  toleration  to 
several  thousand  Greek  Catholics  of  Poland  only  on  the 
condition  that  they  should  pass  over  to  the  Latin  Rite. 

Every  state  springing  up  among  the  Slavonic  popula- 
tions of  southeastern  Europe  declares  itself  ecclesiastically 
independent  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  Besides 


RUINOUS  SCHISM.  91 

the  Turkish  Orthodox  (Constantinopolitan)  and  Russian 
Orthodox  sects,  there  are  in  Europe  five  other  independent 
schismatic  bodies  of  the  Greek  Rite,  one  subject  to  the 
anti-archbishop  of  Carlowitz  in  Hungary,  and  the  others 
constituting  the  state  religions  of  Greece,  Montenegro,  Bul- 
garia and  Roumania  respectively.  The  Patriarchs  of  Con- 
stantinople, Alexandria,  Antioch  and  Jerusalem  had  been 
the  most  guilty  parties  in  the  schism,  and  the  schismatics 
who  pretend  to  be  their  successors  have  sunk  into  utter 
insignificance,  having  less  than  9,000,000  adherants  left. 
The  Russian  Schism  has  about  50,000,000,  though  the 
Russian  government  claims  a  much  larger  number  by 
counting  in  most  of  the  Raskolniks  and  many  Pagans; 
the  Greco  -  Hungarian  has  2,000,000,  the  Roumanian 
3,500,000,  the  Bulgarian  about  1,000,000  and  that  of 
Montenegro  about  125,000.  Although  the  Eastern  Church 
produced  so  many  great  men  in  the  days  of  its  glory,  and 
was  the  seat  of  such  important  Councils,  the  group  of 
sects  that  have  arisen  on  its  ruins  and  have  presumed  to 
usurp  its  name,  are  absolutely  sterile.  Not  a  single  great 
saint  or  Doctor  has  arisen  among  them  for  eight  centuries, 
though  the  ruined  fragment  of  that  once  most  splendid 
part  of  Christendom  which  has  remained  faithful  to  Catholic 
unity  has  not  been  lacking  in  great  names,  among  which 
it  is  sufficient  to  mention  that  of  Cardinal  Bessarion.  Not 
a  single  great  movement  stirred  up  those  servile  masses, 
not  even  the  passing  of  the  crusaders  on  their  march 
against  the  eternal  foes  of  the  Christians.  What  was  the 
cause?  The  Christian  spirit  had  departed  from  that  human 
fabric,  just  as  the  life  of  the  body  disappears  from  an 
amputated  limb. 

The  Greek  Schism  calls  itself  the  "Orthodox  Greek 
Church".  It  has  a  right  to  call  itself  orthodox  as  it  has 
never  officially  repudiated  the  Catholic  faith,  most  of  which 
it  explicitly  professes.  On  the  contrary  it  has  nobly 
resisted  the  efforts  made  by  the  Protestants  to  gain  it 
over  to  their  side.  Cyril  Lucaris,  anti-patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, was  bought  out  by  the  "reformers"  and  tried 
to  introduce  Protestantism,  but  he  was  exiled  three  times 
and  finally  executed,  1638.  But  it  is  not  the  Greek  Church, 

I 


92  THE  THREE  AGES. 

that  title  belonging  to  that  faithful  remnant  which  adheres 
to  Catholic  unity,  and  is  therefore  in  fellowship  with  the 
Holy  Apostolic  Roman  See.  There  are  many  millions  of 
Catholics  whose  ancestors  were  reclaimed  from  this  form 
of  separatism,  including  about  8,000,000  of  Greek-Ruthe- 
nian  (Old  Russian)  Rite;  although  2,000,000  of  them  were 
forced  back  into  schism  by  Nicholas  I.  500,000  of  the 
Greek-Bulgarian  Rite,  1,200,000  of  the  Greek-Roumanian 
Rite,  and  75,000  of  the  Greek  Melchite  Rite,  besides  a 
portion  of  the  pure  Greek  Rite,  numbering  about  65,000; 
to  say  nothing  of  the  countless  multitudes  who  have  from 
time  to  time  taken  refuge  in  the  Latin  Rite  to  escape  the 
bitter  persecutions  for  which  the  Greek  Catholics  are 
singled  out  as  special  victims  by  the  ferocious  schismatics. 

The  Greek  Schism,  supported  by  the  predominating 
empire  of  the  times,  seemed  destined  to  rule  the  world. 
For  the  Roman  Church  was  oppressed  by  petty  Italian 
princes,  and  the  whole  Latin  world  was  hardly  emerging 
from  the  barbarism  which  ensued  on  the  fall  of  the  Western 
empire.  Humanly  speaking,  old  Rome  was  sure  to  be 
superseded  by  the  new  Rome,  and  the  anti-patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople must  inevitably  become  the  Pope  of  Christen- 
dom. But  that  would  have  destroyed  the  organization 
established  by  Christ  Himself,  and  no  power  can  ever  avail 
against  the  cornerstone  of  His  Church.  From  the  hour 
that  the  Greeks  separated  from  the  Vicar  of  Christ  they 
rapidly  declined,  and  they  were  in  the  course  of  centuries 
abandoned  by  the  Savior  to  their  direst  enemies.  Nearly 
all  the  Mohammedans  of  Turkey  are  the  descendants  of 
apostates  from  the  Greek  Schism. 

The  wrath  of  God  has  been  visited  upon  all  the  here- 
tics and  scismatics  who  have  attempted,  age  after  age,  to 
rend  in  pieces  His  Kingdom  on  earth.  All,  without  ex- 
ception, have  sooner  or  later  been  crushed  under  the  heel 
of  barbarian  caliphs  and  sultans,  powerful  emperors  and 
Czars,  who  exile  or  murder  those  who  refuse  to  obey 
their  orders.  History  repeats  itself.  The  nations  which 
to-day  persecute  the  Church  of  God  will  fare  no  better 
than  those  of  old,  unless  they  return  to  true  Christianity, 
or  at  least  cease  to  oppress  the  Spouse  of  Christ. 


MIDDLE  AGE 

A.  D.  476-1517 

FROM  BARBARISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 


MIDDLE  AGE 

A.  D.  476— 1517 

FROM  BARBARISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

c/ 

CHAPTER  THIRTEENTH. 
CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM. 

This  is  My  commandment,  that  you  love  one  another,  as  I 
have  loved  you.  Greater  love  than  this  no  man  hath,  that  a 
man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends.  JOHN  xv,  12 — 13. 

I.     DEFINITION  OF  CIVILIZATION. 

COME  people  say  that  the  Church  is  opposed  to  civili- 
zation, because  they  find  barbarism  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
They  call  them  the  "Dark  Ages";  but  they  are  themselves 
in  the  dark  concerning  that  most  fertile  period  of  history. 
The  best  Noncatholic  authors,  like  Maitland,  Simondi, 
Emerson  and  Hallam,  notice  the  absurdity  of  this  charge ; 
and  Sir  Francis  Palgrave  wishes  that  such  ignorant  revilers 
could  be  transported  back  to  the  Middle  Ages,  to  see  how 
they  would  civilize  the  barbarians.  The  fact  is  that  the 
Church  brought  light  out  of  darkness,  and  that,  too,  in 
the  face  of  Mohammedanism,  an  effectful  agency  of  barbar- 
ism. Not  only  did  she  promote  civilization  among  savages, 
but  she  had  also  to  protect  it  against  the  armies  of 
Mohammedan  barbarians.  Hence  she  may  be  called  the 
mother  of  civilization  in  a  two-fold  sense;  first,  as  having 
produced  it,  and  secondly  as  having  protected  it  against 
its  direst  enemy. 

Civilization  is  transformation  from  a  savage  state  to 
that  of  more  perfect  civic  life.    It  is  the  transition  from 


96  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  violence,  ignorance  and  privation  of  a  wild  horde  to 
the  order,  knowledge  and  comforts  of  a  commonwealth. 
Civilization  means  the  blessings  of  a  well-ordered  society, 
extended  not  only  to  certain  classes,  but  to  the  whole 
people;  and  consists  as  much  in  moral  as  in  plrysical 
ameliorations.  Individual  comforts  and  new  inventions 
minister  only  to  a  few  favored  ones,  and  they  cannot  con- 
stitute more  than  a  one-sided  and  partial  civilization. 
True  civilization  rests  on  mutual  charity  and  personal 
virtue ;  it  demands  regard  for  others  and  control  of  self; 
it  requires  sacrifices  for  the  public  comfort  and  efforts  at 
self-improvement.  Only  self-sacrificing  people  work  for  the 
public  welfare;  selfish  people  want  the  earth  and  the  ful- 
ness thereof. 

The  controlling  powers  of  the  Middle  Ages  were 
Christianity  and  Mohammedanism.  But  the  former  is  the 
religion  of  self-sacrifice ;  while  the  latter  is  the  consecration 
of  self-indulgence.  Christ  taught  the  brotherhood  of  man, 
and  enjoined  the  love  of  others  as  his  chief  commandment. 
His  disciples  held  all  men  as  brothers,  and  often  gave 
their  goods  and  even  their  lives  for  their  fellow-creatures. 
Mohammed  taught  to  hate  and  combat  all  wrho  refuse  to 
accept  his  prophetic  pretensions,  and  caused  a  perpetual 
war  among  the  children  of  men.  His  followers  attacked 
all  other  nations,  in  order  to  enslave  them,  and  the  un- 
daunted Crusaders  alone  could  arrest  their  fanatical  asaults. 

The  character  and  influence  of  these  two  factors  are 
strikingly  represented  by  their  emblems.  The  sign  of  Christ 
is  the  star  of  day,  the  bright  sun ;  the  sign  of  Mohammed 
is  the  crescent,  the  pale  moon.  The  warm  and  radiant 
sun  gives  light  to  all  creation,  but  under  the  cold  and 
pallid  moon  every  think  sinks  into  darkness  and  sleep.  So 
did  Christianity  dispel  the  darkness  of  barbarism,  and 
bring  light  and  activity  into  the  world ;  whilst  Mohamme- 
danism brought  perpetual  warfare,  and  plunged  its  followers 
into  sleep  and  vice  among  their  many  slaves  and  wives. 
For  more  than  a  thousand  years  have  Christianity  and 
Mohammedanism  stood  before  the  world  as  the  sun  and 
moon.  The  former  came  in  a  dark  night  of  barbarism, 
and  transformed  it  into  a  bright  day  of  progress  and 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM.  97 

civilization ;  the  latter  came  in  a  brilliant  day  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  transformed  it  into  a  dark  night  of  degradation 
and  barbarism.  The  former  created  an  oasis  in  the  .wilder- 
ness; the  later  made  a  desert  out  of  the  Eden  of  the  world. 

II.    CHRISTIANITY  A  SCHOOL  OF  CIVILIZATION. 

As  the  Roman  Empire  tottered  to  its  fall,  the  Teutonic 
tribes  of  the  north  dashed  against  it  with  ever-increasing 
audacity,  until  at  last  (A.  D.  4-76)  it  was  swept  entirely 
away.  The  barbarians  rushed  through  its  rich  domains, 
levelling  everything  to  the  ground,  and  dividing  among 
themselves  all  its  fair  provinces.  Hardly  had  they  settled 
down,  when  still  fiercer  barbarians  poured  in  from  all  sides 
and  again  laid  everything  in  ruins.  Europe  became  a 
battlefield  of  savages,  and  a  whirlpool  of  nations.  The 
nature  of  its  conquerors  was  so  wild  and  their  migrations 
so  continuous  that  it  took  centuries  to  convert  them  and 
transform  them  into  civilized  nations.  The  Benedictine 
monks  were  the  chief  Providential  agents  in  that  great 
work.  They  built  their  monasteries  among  the  roving 
tribes,  cleared  the  forests  and  raised  the  first  crops.  Their 
establishments  were  frequently  overthrown,  but  they  rebuilt 
them  just  as  often,  until  they  had  rooted  them  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people  as  firmly  as  in  the  soil  of  the  country.  Thus 
they  taught  the  barbarians  the  first  elements  of  agriculture 
and  letters  and  gradually  accustomed  them  to  a  civilized 
life.  However,  the  instincts  of  barbarism  remained  in  them 
for  centuries.  To  more  effetually  eliminate  them,  the 
Bishops  of  Rome  escablished  among  the  Germanic  peoples 
the  "Holy  Roman  Empire"  to  unite  the  warlike  tribes; 
and  sanctioned  the  feudal  system,  which  gave  local  autho- 
rity to  powerful  warriors,  able  to  maintain  order  among 
the  stormy  elements  of  new  Europe. 

Around  the  Popes  grew  up  a  Christian  Commonwealth, 
which  made  gigantic  strides  in  the  path  of  progress.  The 
Papal  curia  formed  an  ideal  court  of  arbitration,  which 
settled  without  bloodshed  many  national  and  international 
questions.  The  Popes  undertook  long  wars  against  the 
formidable  Henrys  and  Frederics  of  Germany,  for  the 
defense  of  the  liberties  of  the  Church  and  of  the  people. 

7 


98  THE  THREE  AGES. 

They  also  stirred  up  the  Christian  nations  of  the  West  to 
unite  and  fight  for  centuries  against  the  fanatical  Mussul- 
mans for  the  defence  of  the  Christian  religion  and 
civilization. 

Gregory  VII.,  Urban  II.,  Alexander  III.  and  Innocent  III. 
must  be  gratefully  remembered  as  the  undaunted  champions 
of  religious  and  political  liberty. 

Those  were  ages  of  strong  faith  and  true  progress. 
The  nations  of  Europe  were  one  in  faith,  and  one  in 
obedience  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  Salvation  was  their 
principal  concern,  and  they  led  holy  lives,  in  the  world  as 
well  as  in  the  cloister.  The}r  advanced  equally  well  in 
temporal  matters,  made  wonderful  progress  in  the  arts 
and  sciences,  and  were  happy  and  contented.  The  knights 
protected  virtue  and  weakness;  the  guilds  safeguarded 
labor  in  the  thriving  republics  of  the  south  aud  the  power- 
ful communes  of  the  north.  Time  and  money  were  lavished 
in  the  foundation  and  development  of  sixty  six  universities 
and  the  building  of  hundreds  of  splendid  churches  and  public 
halls  which  to  this  day  evoke  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

The  Liberals  disdain  that  progress,  and  parade  as  their 
own  the  great  material  improvements  of  our  times.  But 
what  could  they  have  done  with  the  warring  tribes  of 
Europe  but  fight  with  them?  Where  would  we  be  today 
without  the  tireless  labors  of  the  monks?  The  way  for 
the  inventions  of  our  times  was  prepared  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  Copernicus  opened  up  the  immense  heavens  above 
us,  Columbus  the  wide  world  around  us;  and  processes  of 
art  and  industry  were  then  discovered  that  have  since 
been  lost  and  cannot  be  rivalled  in  our  own  days.  The 
world  was  on  the  eve  of  still  greater  strides  in  progress, 
when  this  beneficent  movement  was  interrupted  through 
the  fanaticism  of  Protestantism,  which  inaugurated  another 
era  of  war  and  vandalism.  The  universities  were  depopu- 
lated, the  libraries  burned,  the  paintings  torn  to  pieces 
and  the  monuments  blown  up.  It  is  only  now,  after  a 
lapse  of  more  than  three  centuries,  that  the  achievements 
and  discoveries  ot  the  Middle  Ages  are  beginning  to  be 
taken  up  again,  studied,  admired,  made  use  of,  and  carried 
on  towards  perfection. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM.  99 

III.    MOHAMMEDANISM  A  CAMP  OF  BARBARISM. 

Mohammed  arose  in  the  fairest  portion  of  our  planet, 
which  had  been  civilized  from  the  beginning.  He  came  after 
Christ  and  His  sublime  Gospel,  but  yet  fell  back  into  Pagan 
ideas  and  methods.  In  order  to  attract  followers,  he 
allowed  polygamy  and  slavery,  and  thus  sacrificed  the 
bulk  of  mankind  to  the  passions  of  a  few  selfish  masters. 
In  order  to  propagate  his  sect,  he  proclaimed  warfare  in 
its  interests  as  the  first  commandment  of  Allah.  He  stirred 
up  his  soldiers  by  the  promise  of  the  most  sensual  rewards, 
and  made  them  undaunted  in  the  battlefield  by  his  doctrine 
of  fatalism.  He  taught  them  to  die  like  Stoics,  calmly 
repeating:  "It  was  written",  For  the  sake  of  this  impostor 
a  war  was  started  that  lasted  a  thousand  years,  and  that 
threw  the  East  into  an  abyss  of  misery.  Wherever  Moham- 
medanism passed,  it  withered  everything  like  the  burning 
simoon  of  the  desert.  It  made  barren  the  finest  countries 
of  the  world,  it  cheked  the  population,  it  lowered  women, 
it  enslaved  men,  it  ruined  agriculture  and  industry,  and  it 
put  an  end  to  intellectual  progress.  The  splendors  of 
Bagdad  and  Cordova  were  derived  from  the  former  civiliz- 
ations, and  disappeared  in  a  few  centuries. 

For  a  thousand  years  the  appeal  to  arms  for  the 
imposition  of  the  Koran  resounded  through  Asia  and 
Africa;  and  thirty  successive  generations  strove  to  subdue 
Europe  to  the  yoke  of  the  False  Prophet  and  its  ensuing 
barbarism.  Religion  as  well  as  civilization  seemed  doomed 
to  destruction.  But  God  raised  up  valiant  Pontiffs  to 
resist  the  arch-enemy,  and  to  unite  and  organize  the 
nations  of  Europe  for  the  common  defense.  For  a  thousand 
years  the  Popes  stood  as  sentinels  on  the  hills  of  the 
Eternal  City,  and  uttered  the  cry  of  alarm  whenever  the 
fierce  Mussulmans  made  a  new  onslaught  upon  Christen- 
dom. Again  and  again  the  Catholics  responded  to  the 
warning,  and  stood  up  as  one  nation  for  their  God  and 
their  country;  so  that  they  never  became  the  permanent 
slaves  of  savage  Islam.  But  the  heretics  and  schismatics 
remained  in  their  isolation,  and  one  after  another  they 
became  the  prey  of  the  fanatical  armies  of  the  Caliphs. 


100  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Those  of  them  who  refused  to  renounce  the  very  name  of 
Christ  were  reduced  to  the  most  galling  servitude,  from 
which  they  have  never  been  freed. 

Although  the  sons  of  the  False  Prophet  were  always 
on  the  warpath,  there  arose  among  them  three  peoples, 
each  fiercer  than  the  other,  which  made  supreme  efforts 
for  the  subjugation  of  Christendom,  to  wit;  the  Arabs, 
the  Seljuks  and  the  Ottoman  Turks.  Hence  there  are  three 
periods  in  the  deadly  war  of  Mohammedan  barbarism 
against  Christian  civilization :  the  Arabian,  beginning  A.  D. 
622;  the  Seljukian,  A.D.  1000,  and  the  Ottoman  A.D.  1300. 

In  one  century  the  Arabs  subdued  the  heathens,  the 
heretics  and  the  schismatics  of  Asia  and  Africa,  and  the 
Visigoths  of  Spain ;  but  they  were  brought  to  a  halt  by 
the  arms  of  the  Catholic  Franks  under  Charles  Martel. 
The  Catholics  of  Spain  then  began  a  war  for  independence 
which  lasted,  with  brief  intermissions,  for  eight  hundred 
years  and  at  the  end  of  which  the  Mohammedans  were 
driven  from  the  peninsula.  In  the  eleventh  century  the 
Seljukian  Turks  were  the  masters  of  Asia  and  threatend 
Europe.  The  Christian  nations  had  just  reached  their 
vigorous  adolescence.  Pope  Urban  II  aroused  them  to 
meet  the  emergency.  They  assumed  the  cross  as  their 
emblem,  and  took  the  offensive  against  the  threatening 
infidels.  The  undaunted  crusaders  went  into  the  Holy 
Land,  attacked  the  enemy  in  his  own  country  and  broke 
his  power.  In  the  fourteenth  century,  the  Ottoman  Turks 
brought  the  terrible  -war  into  the  heart  of  Europe.  In  five 
crusades  the  Hungarians,  aided  by  Catholic  volunteers  from 
all  over  Europe  brought  them  to  a  stop  in  the  valley  of 
the  Danube;  but  schismatic  Constantinople  fell  into  their 
hands.  When  Protestantism  had  hopelessly  divided  the 
Christian  nations  Solyman  the  Magnificent  made  desperate 
efforts  to  reduce  all  Christendom  under  his  yoke.  He  laid 
siege  to  Vienna,  the  capital  of  the  Christian  empire,  but 
he  fled  before  Charles  V.  The  power  of  the  Ottomans  was 
forever  broken  by  Catholic  warriors  at  the  battles  of 
Lepanto  and  Vienna.  Thus  did  the  Catholics,  all  unaided, 
withstand  and  repel  the  Mussulman  hordes ;  thus  did  they 
save  mankind  from  the  most  degrading  barbarism. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM.  101 

IV.    THE  TORCH  OF  ENLIGHTENMENT. 

The  slightest  knowledge  of  geography  shows  that  the 
Christian  lands  are  the  paradise  of  the  world,  and  proves 
that  the  Church  is  the  most  potent  agency  of  civilization. 
The  simple  perusal  of  a  true  history,  which  gives  the  great 
dramas  of  the  past  in  their  causes  and  effects,  shows  that 
real  Christianity  has  blessed  every  country  and  every 
century  where  and  when  it  has  flourished.  Still  the  blinded 
Liberals  do  not  blush  to  represent  the  Church  as  an  enemy 
of  civilization  in  the  whole  world,  but  especially  at  Rome. 
Accordingly  they  had  confiscated  the  Patrimony  of  Peter, 
and  robbed  the  Mother-Church  of  her  property,  all  in  the 
name  of  progress,  when  Leo  XIII.  was  elected  to  the  See 
of  Peter.  In  his  first  encyclical  the  great  Pontiff  refuted 
this  glaring  slander  and  proved  from  reason  and  history 
that  the  Church  is  the  mightiest  instrument  of  civilization 
that  ever  appeared  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  He  says : 

"Who  can  deny  that  it  is  the  Church  which,  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  nations,  brought  the  light  of  truth  among  barbarous  and 
superstitious  peoples  and  moved  them  to  recognize  the  Divine  order  of 
things  and  to  respect  themselves;  which,  by  abolishing  slavery,  recalled 
man  to  the  justice  and  dignity  of  his  noble  nature;  and  which,  by  un- 
furling the  banner  of  redemption  in  every  clime  of  the  earth,  introducing 
and  protecting  the  arts,  and  founding  excellent  institutions  of  charity, 
that  provide  for  every  misery,  has  cultivated  the  human  race  every- 
where, raised  it  from  its  degradation,  and  brought  it  to  a  life  becoming 
the  dignity  and  destiny  of  man  ?  If  these  benefits  are  the  real  works  of 
civilization,  the  Church,  so  far  from  abhorring  and  repudiating  it,  makes 
it  her  glory  to  be  its  nurse,  its  teacher  and  its  mother. 

"But  that  kind  of  civilization  which  is  opposed  to  the  holy  doctrines 
and  laws  of  the  Church  is  only  a  shadow  of  civilization,  as  appears  from 
the  example  of  those  peoples  upon  which  the  light  of  the  Gospel  has  not 
shone;  in  whose  state  a  glimmer  of  civilization  is  sometimes  to  be  seen, 
but  its  real  and  solid  benefits  do  not  exist. 

"Moreover,  considering  what  has  been  done  by  the  Holy  See,  what 
can  be  more  unjust  than  to  deny  the  eminent  services  rendered  by  the 
Bishops  of  Rome  to  the  cause  of  society  ?  It  was  the  Apostolic  See  that 
gathered  up  the  remnants  of  the  ancient  world :  it  was  the  torch  to  shed 
light  on  the  civilization  of  the  Christian  times,  it  was  the  anchor  of 
safety  in  those  violent  tempests,  by  which  the  human  race  was  tossed 
about;  it  was  the  sacred  bond  of  concord  which  united  nations  of  diverse 
customs  together;  finally,  it  was  the  common  center  whence  all  men 
derived,  together  with  the  doctrines  01  religion,  encouragement  and 
counsels  of  peace.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  that  they 


102  THE  THREE  AGES. 

have  ever  thrown  themselves  into  the  breach,  that  human  society  might 
not  sink  back  into  its  ancient  superstition  and  barbarism. 

"Italy  being  nearer  to  the  source,  received  more  abundant  blessings. 
For  to  the  Roman  Pontiffs  Italy  is  indebted  for  the  glory  and  greatness 
in  which  she  surpassed  other  nations.  Their  paternal  authority  and 
solicitude  often  protected  her  from  the  assaults  of  her  enemies  and  brought 
her  assistance.  These  services  of  our  predecessors  are  recorded  in  the 
history  of  St.  Leo  the  Great,  Alexander  III,  Innocent  III,  St.  Pius  V, 
Leo  X,  and  other  Pontiffs,  by  whose  zeal  and  protection  Italy  escaped 
from  the  utter  ruin  threatened  by  the  barbarians,  retained  the  old  faith 
incorrupt,  and,  amid  the  darkness  and  degradation  of  an  uncultured  age, 
nourished  and  maintained  the  light  of  science  and  the  splendor  of  the 
arts.  This  fair  city,  the  seat  of  the  Pontiffs,  bears  witness  to  their 
benefits,  of  which  it  received  so  large  a  share;  becoming  not  only  the 
fortified  citadel  of  faith,  but  also  the  asylum  and  home  of  the  fine  arts 
and  of  learning,  which  have  won  for  her  the  respect  and  the  admiration 
of  the  whole  world. 

"Nothing  but  base  calumny  and  malice  could  have  published  that  the 
Apostolic  See  is  a  hindrance  to  the  civilization  and  the  happiness  of  the 
people  of  Italy." 


CHAPTER  FOURTEENTH. 
BARBARISM  OF  WESTERN  EUROPE. 

The  ten  horns  [kings]  which  tkou  sawest  in  the  beast 
[Kingdom  of  Satan],  these  shall  hate  the  harlot  [Empire  of 
the  Caesars]  and  shall  make  her  desolate  and  naked,  and  shall 
eat  her  flesh,  and  shall  burn  her  with  fire.  APOCALYPSE  XVH,  16. 

I.    EUROPE  A  WHIRLPOOL  OF  NATIONS. 

A  CERTAIN  class  of  persons  compare  the  Middle  Ages 
with  our  own  times,  and  seem  surprised  at  not  finding 
as  much  enlightenment,  of  every  kind,  even  in  their  earliest 
portion,  as  there  exists  at  the  present  time.  They  betray 
an  ignorance  worthy  of  those  very  same  troubled  ages. 
The  most  elementary  study  of  history  shows  that  for 
centuries  Europe  was  like  a  whirlpool  of  ever-shifting  and 
contending  peoples,  where  nothing  solid  and  permanent 
could  be  established.  About  the  year  476  there  took  place 
the  irruption  of  the  barbarian  tribes,  and  hardly  had  they 
settled  down  (A.  D.  814)  when  the  inroads  of  still  fiercer 
savages  began,  which  lasted  for  two  more  centuries. 
Every  human  institution  fell  under  their  ravages;  the 
Divine  Church  alone  withstood  their  rage,  because  she 
possessed  the  means  to  tame  and  civilize  them. 

II.     THE  MIGRATIONS  OF  THE  PEOPLES. 

In  376  the  Huns  of  Mongolia  made  their  appearance 
in  Europe  and,  like  an  irresistible  wave,  pushed  the  other 
wild  tribes  westward.  Twenty  years  later  the  Roman 
Empire  was  split  into  the  Greek  Empire  of  the  East  and 
the  Latin  Empire  of  the  West.  It  was  the  policy  of  the 
Eastern  Emperors  to  ward  off  the  migratory  barbarians 
from  the  East  to  the  West.  The  Slavs  were  driven  as  far 
as  the  Elbe,  and  a  deluge  of  Germans  was  thrown  over 
the  boundaries  of  the  Latin  Empire.  Gaul  was  over-run 


104  THE  THREE  AGES. 

by  a  swarm  of  Vandals,  Suevi  and  Burgundians.  Italy 
was  laid  waste  by  several  hordes  of  savages,  amongst 
whom  the  Visigoths  were  the  most  terrible.  Their  king 
Alaric  was  bent  on  capturing  Rome,  and  besieged  her  three 
times.  The  first  two  times  he  spared  her,  but  he  exacted 
such  heavy  ransoms  that  the  Romans  could  not  find  money 
to  pay  it  without  melting  down  the  golden  statues  of 
their  ancient  gods.  The  third  time  he  demanded  such  an 
enormous  sum  that  it  could  not  be  paid  at  all,  and  so  he 
captured  the  queen  of  the  nations  and  plundered  her  for 
three  days,  A.  D.  410. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  later  Attila,  "The  Scourge  of 
God",  as  he  called  himself,  united  the  Huns  into  one  king- 
dom and  wasted  the  northern  countries  of  Europe.  In  the 
year  451  he  set  out  with  700,000  men  to  destroy  Rome. 
The  frightened  population  of  northern  Italy  fled  into  the 
islands  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  where  they  laid  the  foundation 
of  Venice.  Rome  trembled  before  this  destroyer  of  nations. 
But  the  undaunted  Pope  Leo  the  Great  went  out  to  him, 
in  his  Pontifical  robes,  as  the  ambassador  of  God,  and 
ordered  him  to  return,  whereupon  the  fierce  conqueror 
quitted  Italy.  The  following  year  he  died  suddenly;  his 
sons  were  slain  by  the  Ostrogoths,  and  his  hordes  retired 
towards  the  Black  Sea. 

Three  years  later  Genseric,  king  of  the  Vandals,  came 
with  an  immense  fleet  to  destroy  the  city  of  the  Caesars. 
Again  Pope  Leo  went  out  with  a  procession  of  his  clergy. 
He  obtained  the  life  of  the  people  and  the  preservation  of 
the  monuments ;  but  the  city  was  plundered  for  a  fortnight. 

In  476  the  Latin  Empire  was  annihilated,  and  its  rich 
provinces  became  the  prey  of  the  German  tribes.  Great 
Britain  was  conquered  by  the  Anglo-Saxons,  Gaul  by  the 
Franks  and  the  Burgundians,  Spain  by  the  Visigoths  and 
the  Suevi,  Italy  by  the  Ostrogoths  and  the  Lombards,  and 
Africa  by  the  Vandals. 

As  the  great  deluge  of  old  swept  over  the  face  of  the 
earth  and  destroyed  everything  in  its  passage,  so  did  the 
barbarian  hordes  sweep  over  Europe  and  level  everything 
in  their  course.  Farms  were  devastated,  castles  over- 
thrown, and  towns  and  cities  destroyed.  The  terrified 


BARBARISM  OF  WESTERN  EUROPE.  105 

people  were  overwhelmed  by  the  mighty  influx  of  savages, 
or  fled  into  the  hollows  of  the  rocks  or  the  wilds  of  the 
woods.  All  human  institutions  were  submerged.  Just  as 
in  the  Scriptural  narrative  Noah's  ark  alone  escaped  the 
general  cataclysm,  so  now  there  was  but  one  institution 
that  survived  the  fury  of  the  barbarian  deluge.  It  was  the 
Catholic  Church  that  stopped  the  fierce  tribesmen  in  their 
mad  course.  She  effectually  converted  them,  and  trans- 
formed them  into  new  men. 

The  nomadic  and  independent  nature  of  the  barbarians 
was  diametrically  opposed  to  civilization  and  religion. 
Hunting  and  fighting  were  there  pastime,  their  pleasure 
and  their  glory.  However,  the  Church  of  Christ  tamed 
their  wild  nature.  Within  two  centuries  she  had  conquered 
the  tribes  settled  in  the  old  Empire;  and  during  the  two 
following  centuries  she  converted  the  Germans  of  the 
Black  Forest. 

The  Frankish  people  after  entering  the  Church  became 
the  leaders  of  the  Teutonic  race.  Charlemagne  ( A.  D.  768-814) 
united  and  organized  the  German  nations,  and  gave  an 
immense  impulse  to  civilization.  But  his  empire  was  divided 
after  his  death,  and  new  barbarians  came  and  to  a  great 
extent  destroyed  his  work. 

III.  THE  INROADS  OF  THE  BARBARIANS. 

The  Northmen  were  Teutonic  tribes  living  in  frozen 
Scandinavia ;  and  they  were  as  savage  as  the  wild  elements 
of-their  native  country.  Starting  from  their  dense  forests 
and  their  stormy  seas,  they  were  constantly  traversing  the 
seas  in  their  little  ships  to  plunder  the  coasts  and  valleys 
of  Western  Europe.  They  were  as  innumerable  as  the 
swarms  of  locusts ;  their  light  craft  often  covered  the  rivers 
for  miles.  They  destroyed  everything  in  their  passage. 
Their  depradations  were  carried  on  unremittingly  until 
their  conversion  in  the  tenth  century.  In  911  Rollo,  one 
of  their  chiefs,  obtained  Normandy  in  France.  His 
descendants  conquered  England,  and  Southern  Italy. 

The  Hungarians  were  a  Mongoloid  tribe  as  fierce  as 
the  Huns.  Called  by  the  Emperors  of  Greece  and  of 
Germany  to  assist  them  against  other  barbarians,  they 


106  THE  THREE  AGES. 

conquered  Pannonia,  which  has  since  been  called  Hungary ; 
and  thence  they  made  incursions  into  many  lands  of  Western 
Europe.  They  were  stopped  by  the  victory  of  Otho  the 
Great,  at  the  Lech  (955),  and  converted  to  Catholicity 
under  their  king  St.  Stephen,  in  1,000. 

The  Saracens  were  Mohammedan  pirates,  who  thought 
that  everything  was  permissable  against  the  Christians. 
In  Italy  they  ruined  the  growing  crops  and  burned  the 
rising  towns.  Their  course  could  be  traced  by  the  flames 
and  smoke  arising  from  the  burning  places.  Pope  Leo  IV, 
John  X,  and  Benedict  VIII  made  a  valiant  stand  against 
those  cruel  plunderers.  The  Norman  Robert  Guiscard 
expelled  them  from  Southern  Italy,  a  little  before  the  reign 
of  Gregory  VII.  However,  the  Mussulmans  continued  to 
molest  the  Christians  for  five  centuries  more,  attacking 
them  at  all  points  of  the  Meditenranean,  from  Palestine 
to  Spain.  But  this  tremendous  war  will  be  considered  in 
full  later  on. 

The  invasions  were  -so  terrible  that  the  people  prayed 
in  their  litanies:  "From  the  fury  of  the  Normans  deliver 
us,  o  Lord".  Ruins  were  piled  up  on  all  sides,  and  evils 
multiplied  until  the  terrified  people  thought  that  the  end 
of  the  \vorld  was  coming.  Before  the  year  1000  so  great 
was  their  fright  that  they  stopped  building  and  planting, 
plowing  and  sowing.  The  harm  done  by  the  barbarians 
was  so  appalling  and  so  general  that  some  historians  have 
styled  this  epoch  the  "Iron  Age". 

In  the  first  place,  everything  was  overthrown  as  soon 
as  it  was  begun,  and  the  work  had  to  be  done  over  again 
many  times.  Secondly,  a  terrible  chaos  prevailed:  Crime 
and  lawlessness  were  bold;  vice  and  ignorance  were 
common;  local  wars  were  waged  for  centuries  between 
rival  places.  Thirdly,  the  Church  found  little  material  out 
of  which  to  make  a  clergy  fit  for  such  troubled  times. 
She  had  to  take  her  pastors  from  a  half-civilized  people, 
and  naturally  it  was  difficult  to  raise  such  subjects  to  the 
high  standard  necessary  for  the  worthy  ministry  of  the 
Gospel.  Finally,  the  Church  was  afflicted  by  the  meddling 
of  petty  tyrants  who  thrust  into  office  their  favorites, 
friends  and  tools,  who,  very  naturally,  were  less  anxious 


BARBARISM  OF  WESTERN  EUROPE.  107 

for  the  glory  of  God  than  for  the  worldly  interests  of  their 
human  master.  Thus  dissolute  laymen  and  simoniacal 
clergymen  rose  to  the  highest  dignities  of  the  Church,  and 
disgraced  the  sanctuary  by  their  scandalous  lives.  At  Rome 
itself,  from  900  to  1050,  the  powerful  Tuscan  and  Tusculan 
princes  often  controlled  the  Pontifical  elections,  and 
succeeded  in  thrusting  into  the  See  of  Peter  their  own 
relatives  and  friends,  whether  worthy  or  unworthy.  In 
the  tenth  century  the  two  Theophoras  and  Marozia,  and 
in  the  eleventh  Adalbert,  exerted  a  baleful  influence  in  the 
Pontifical  elections.  However,  after  their  elevation  most 
of  those  Popes  were  changed  into  better  men  by  a  visible 
grace  of  God.  That  most  reliable  historian  Flodoard 
testifies  to  this  fact.  Most  of  the  charges  made  by  Luit- 
prand,  the  German  re  viler  of  the  Italian  Popes,  are  proven 
to  be  libels,  and  are  rejected  by  all  historians  worthy  of 
the  name.  Even  in  those  troublous  times  there  were  only 
two  Popes,  John  XII.  and  Benedict  VIII.,  whose  conduct 
cannot  be  justified. 

How  striking  an  evidence  of  God's  watchful  Providence 
over  His  Church!  With  inferior  or  vicious  men  in  her 
highest  offices,  she  not  only  does  not  succumb  to  the 
mighty  forces  of  disintegration  and  destruction,  like  all 
the  human  institutions  around  her,  but  succeeds  in  carrying 
the  work  of  civilization  steadily  forward  under  these  most 
difficult  circumstances.  In  the  earlier  history  of  the  people 
of  God  the  Church  had  often  seemed  to  be  on  the  verge  of 
perdition ;  thus  at  certain  periods  under  the  Old  Covenant 
the  people  were  corrupt,  the  Pontificate  in  unworthy  hands, 
and  the  temple  ruined.  But  some  unexpected  event,  some 
Providential  man,  always  arose  to  restore  everything;  as 
in  the  case  of  Cyrus  and  the  Machabees.  So,  in  the  midst 
of  the  chaos  of  eleventh-century  Europe  Gregory  VII.  will 
arise  like  a  giant ;  he  will  break  the  chain  of  bondage  and 
restore  the  Church  of  God  to  her  independence  and  make 
her  holiness  once  more  resplendent.  He  will  wipe  out  the 
abuses  introduced  by  the  barbarians,  and  instead  of  becom- 
ing the  plaything  of  petty  Italian  princes,  the  position  to 
which  she  seemed  about  to  be  reduced,  she  will  become 
the  glorious  savior  and  queen  of  the  nations. 


108  THE  THREE  AGES. 

During  the  Dark  Ages  the  Church  of  God  was  threatened 
with  a  double  ruin:  First,  with  the  material  ruin  brought 
upon  all  other  institutions  by  the  migrations  of  the  nations 
of  Europe;  and  secondly  by  the  moral  ruin  occasioned  by 
the  inroads  of  the  barbarians  and  intensified  by  the 
intrusions  of  the  petty  princes.  Why  did  she  alone  survive 
the  general  flood?  How  could  she  conquer  these  bar- 
barians who  had  conquered  the  conquerors  of  the  world  ? 
How  could  she  make  of  those  fierce  savages  her  most 
faithful  children  and  her  most  valiant  soldiers?  Who  has 
adapted  her  so  admirably  to  times  and  circumstances? 
The  Lord  God  Almighty,  who  has  said:  "Upon  Peter  do  I 
build  My  Church,  and  the  gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it". 


CHAPTER  FIFTEENTH. 
CONVERSIONS  OF  THE  BARBARIANS. 

Going  therefore  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  : 
and  behold  I  am  with  you  all  days  even  to  the  consummation 
of  the  world.  MATTH.  xvn,  19 — 20. 

I.     THE  PAPAL  MISSIONARIES. 

AT  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  Catholic  Church 
was  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  barbarian  heathens 
and  heretics.  The  Roman  Pontiffs  immediately  undertook 
the  work  of  their  conversion,  and  for  six  hundred  years 
they  sent  missionaries  all  over  Europe  until  they  had 
entirely  converted  it.  The  savages  paid  little  attention  to 
arguments,  but  they  were  forcibly  impressed  by  suber- 
natural  facts.  The  undaunted  courage  and  the  wonderful 
virtues  of  the  messengers  of  the  Gospel  who  penetrated 
into  their  midst,  and  the  brilliant  miracles  wrought  by  the 
Almighty  in  confirmation  of  their  doctrines,  won  to  God 
those  simple  children  of  nature.  However,  there  always 
remained  some  obstinate  heathens  who  for  centuries  fought 
against  the  new  religion.  The  struggle  between  Paganism 
and  Christianity  lasted  about  two  centuries  in  most  of 
the  countries,  and  the  work  of  civilization  required  a  much 
longer  time.  By  the  year  1000  nearly  all  Europe  was 
Christian.  In  the  first  two  centuries  the  nations  settled 
in  the  old  empire  were  converted  (476 — 700),  in  the  follow- 
ing two  centuries  the  Teutons  of  Germany  and  Scandinavia 
(700—865),  and  in  a  third  period  of  about  the  same  length 
the  Slavs  and  the  Mongols  (865—1073). 

The  Celts  of  Ireland,  converted  by  St.  Patrick,  were 
the  first  and  greatest  apostles  to  the  new  masters  of 
northern  Europe.  Later  on,  Englishmen  joined  in  the 


HO  THE  THREE  AGES. 

work  of  the  missions.  Ireland  had  been  free  from  the 
conquest  of  the  Romans  and  from  the  inroads  of  the 
barbarians,  and  possessed  a  high  degree  of  civilization  of 
its  own.  When  converted,  it  became  for  centuries  an  island 
of  saints,  the  nursery  of  missionaries  and  the  school  of 
northern  Europe. 

II.     NATIONS  SETTLED  IN  THE  OLD  EMPIRE. 
I.    Franks. 

The  Pagan  king  Clovis  was  married  to  the  Christian 
princess  Clothildis,  who  often  spoke  to  him  of  our  Redeemer 
Jesus  Christ.  When  the  Allemani  invaded  Gaul,  Clothildis 
told  her  husband  that  if  he  desired  victory  he  should 
invoke  the  aid  of  the  God  of  the  Christians.  The  armies 
met  at  Tolbiac,  where  the  Franks  were  at  first  routed 
and  began  to  flee  from  the  battlefield.  In  his  extremity 
Clovis  exclaimed:  "O  God  of  Clothildis,  come  to  my  help. 
Give  me  the  victory,  and  I  will  henceforth  adore  no  other 
God  but  Thee."  Hardly  had  he  finished  this  invocation 
than  the  Franks  rallied  and,  rushing  furiously  upon  their 
foes,  put  them  to  flight.  The  war-like  nation  recognized 
the  finger  of  the  God  of  battles,  and  put  themselves  under 
his  orders.  Clovis  and  3,000  officers  were  baptized  on 
Christmas  eve,  A.  D.  491,  in  the  cathedral  of  Rheims,  with 
the  greatest  solemnity.  The  Bishop,  St.  Remigius,  in 
baptizing  the  king,  said :  "Bow  thy  neck  humbly,  proud 
Scamber.  Adore  that  which  thou  hast  burned,  and  burn 
that  which  thou  hast  adored."  The  Franks  were  the  first 
Germanic  nation  to  embrace  the  true  faith,  and  therefore 
France  was  called  "the  Eldest  Daughter  of  the  Church". 
Christianity  made  her  so  superior  to  the  other  peoples 
that  she  soon  became  the  queen  of  the  German  tribes. 

2.     Visigoths,  Langobards  and  Anglo-Saxons. 

Pope  Gregory  the  Great  (590 — 604)  promotes  the  con- 
version of  three  nations. 

The  Visigoths  of  Spain  were  bitter  Arians,  and  perse- 
cuted the  Church  with  a  ferocity  only  excelled  by  that  of 
the  Vandals  of  Africa.  The  crown-prince,  St.  Hermenegild, 
who  embraced  the  true  faith,  was  put  to  death  on  that 


CONVERSIONS  OF  THE  BARBARIANS.  HI 

account  by  his  own  lather.  But  his  brother,  Reccared  the 
Catholic,  when  he  ascended  the  throne  formally  abjured 
Arianism,  in  a  council  of  Bishops  and  nobles,  and  worked 
with  Gregor}'  the  Great  for  the  conversion  of  his  people  to 
Catholicity,  and  his  assiduous  efforts  were  in  the  end 
crowned  with  success.  The  older  racial  elements  of  the 
Iberian  peninsula  blended  with  the  Visigoths,  the  conquer- 
ors of  the  soil,  and  thus  the  Spanish  nation  was  formed. 
The  seventeen  councils  of  Toledo  (400 — 694)  show  how 
prosperous  were  the  Spanish  Church  and  nation  in  those 
early  days. 

The  Langobards,  who  conquered  northern  Italy  in  569, 
were  likewise  Arians,  und  they  showed  themselves  very 
hostile  to  the  Holy  See  and  very  cruel  to  the  ancient  in- 
habitants. The  influence  of  the  Catholic  queen  Theode- 
linda,  and  the  zeal  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  commenced 
their  conversion,  which  was  not  completed  until  another 
century  had  elapsed. 

The  Angles,  Saxons  and  Jutes  drove  the  Christian 
Britons  into  Wales,  and  these  seemed  to  have  no  inclina- 
tion to  evangelize  their  enemies.  One  day  Pope  Gregory 
saw  some  captives  from  England  exposed  for  sale  in  the 
slave-market  at  Rome.  He  asked  of  what  nationality  they 
were,  and  when  informed  that  they  \vere  Angles  he  ex- 
claimed:  "If  these  Angles  were  Christians  they  would  be 
angels."  He  at  once  formed  the  resolution  to  become  the 
apostle  of  their  nation.  Unable  to  go  himself  to  England, 
on  account  of  his  election  to  the  Pontificate,  he  selected 
the  holy  Benedictine  abbot  Augustine,  who  set  out  on  his 
glorious  mission  with  forty  zealous  companions.  The  mis- 
sionaries landed  on  the  cost  of  Kent  in  the  realm  of  King 
Ethelbert,  the  breatwalda  or  chief  king  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
who  wife  was  a  Catholic  princess,  and  who  allowed  them 
full  liberty  to  spread  the  Gospel.  They  preached  like  the 
Apostles  themselves,  and  on  Christmas  eve,  A.  D.  597, 
they  baptized  2,000  persons.  So  many  miracles  were  per- 
formed by  St.  Augustine  that  the  Pope  thought  it  prudent 
;o  warn  him  against  vainglory.  So  many  people  were 
converted  that  two  archiepiscopal  sees  were  erected,  one 
it  Canterbury  and  the  other  at  York.  The  Britons  and 


112  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Anglo-Saxons  could  now  unite  and  form  one  nation;  and 
so  England  was  made  one  under  King  Egbert,  in  802. 
This  new  Church  was  distinguished  among  all  the  nations 
by  her  devotion  to  Mary,  the  Mother  of  God,  her  love  for 
the  Roman  Pontiff,  the  Vicar  of  Christ  and  Apostle  of 
England,  and  her  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the  remaining 
heathens  of  the  continent  of  Europe.  From  the  British 
Isles  came  most  of  the  greatest  missionaries  by  whom 
Germany  was  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ. 

III.    TEUTONS  ON  THEIR  NATIVE  SOIL. 
1.    Germany. 

Many  saints  had  labored  among  the  wild  Teutonic 
tribes.  Fridolin,  Columban  and  Gall  preached  among  the 
Allemanni ;  Rupert  and  Emmeran  among  the  Bavarians ; 
Kilian  among  the  Franconians;  Eloy,  Amand  and  Lievin 
among  the  Flemings,  and  Willibrord  among  the  Frisians; 
but  they  had  not  fully  succeeded  in  weaning  the  people 
from  their  false  gods. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  priest  Winfred  extended  and  perfected 
their  work,  converting  the  most  stubborn  heathens,  and 
solidly  organizing  the  German  Church.  In  719  he  went  to 
Rome  and  was  formally  appointed  by  Pope  Gregory  II., 
Apostolic  missionary  to  the  Germans.  After  spending  three 
years  among  the  idolatrous  Frisians  he  penetrated  into 
Pagan  Hesse  and  Franconia,  where  he  had  immense  success. 
Pope  Gregory  summoned  him  to  Rome,  and  with  his  own 
hands  consecrated  him  Bishop,  giving  him  the  name  of 
Boniface.  After  his  return  this  great  prelate  overthrew  the 
Sacred  Oak  of  Eichstadt,  which  was  held  in  such  veneration, 
that  the  Pagans  expected  him  to  be  struck  dead  by  the 
gods.  As  nothing  happened  to  him,  and  as  he  quietly 
proceeded  to  build  a  church  upon  the  very  spot  where  the 
sacred  tree  had  stood,  they  gave  up  their  powerless  idols 
and  the  whole  nation  was  converted  to  Christ.  Through 
the  number  of  his  miracles  and  the  splendor  of  his  virtues 
Boniface  was  renowned  all  over  Europe  as  a  man  of  God. 
He  was  called  to  Bavaria  to  reform  and  organize  the 
Church  of  that  country,  and  to  France  to  consecrate  its 


CONVERSIONS  OF  THE  BARBARIANS.  113 

new  king,  Pepin  the  Short,  the  first  of  his  dynasty  to  bear 
the  royal  title.  After  fifteen  years  of  untiring  labors,  the 
great  Apostle  of  the  Germans  repaired  again  to  Rome  and 
received  from  Gregory  III.  the  archiepiscopal  pallium,  with 
jurisdiction  over  the  whole  of  Germany.  Mentz  became  the 
metropolitan  see,  with  thirteen  suffragans.  To  perpetuate 
his  work  Boniface  built  a  great  number  of  monasteries 
and  convents,  as  religious  are  especially  necessary  in 
missionary  times.  The  celebrated  abbey  of  Fulda  is  the 
most  famous  of  his  institutions. 

However,  he  could  not  rest  as  long  as  there  remained 
heathens  on  German  soil.  Resigning  his  see,  he  went  to 
Frisia,  which  had  hitherto  resisted  the  efforts  of  all  the 
missionaries.  There  he  was  attacked  by  the  Pagans  and 
put  to  death  (A.  D.  755)  for  the  faith  he  was  so  zealously 
preaching. 

2.    Scandinavia. 

The  kings  of  Denmark .  and  Sweden  asked  for  mission- 
aries, but  Scandinavia  was  the  home  of  the  plundering 
Northmen,  who  for  centuries  had  spread  awe  and  desolation 
everywhere.  Who  would  venture  into  that  nest  of  robbers? 
St.  Ansgar  (827 — 865)  was  ready,  and  he  found  a  worthy 
co-laborer  in  St.  Aubert.  The  intrepid  missionary  met  with 
great  success,  and  established  a  seminary  for  missionaries 
to  continue  his  work.  Created  Metropolitan  of  the  North, 
and  Archbishop  of  Hamburg,  he  continued  to  labor  with 
his  hands  in  making  nets;  he  also  lived  on  bread  and 
water,  in  order  to  save  something  wherewith  to  support 
missionaries  and  to  offer  presents,  when  occasion  required, 
to  the  princes. 

IV.     SLAVS  AND  MONGOLS. 
1.    Moravians. 

The  two  brothers  SS.  Cyril  and  Methodius  were  sent 
to  the  north  as  missionaries  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople. When  they  arrived  in  Moravia  they  found  great 
opposition  to  a  foreign  tongue,  and  they  invented  an  alpha- 
bet for  the  Slavonic  language  and  translated  the  Bible  and 
liturgy  into  it.  They  baptized  the  princes  Wratislaw  and 

8 


114  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Swatopluk,  and  had  great  success.  In  the  middle  of  their 
labors  they  went  to  Rome  (A.  D.  867)  to  receive  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Vicar  of  Christ  upon  their  work,  St.  Cyril  died 
in  that  city,  and  Methodius  was  made  Archbishop  of 
Moravia  and  Pannonia.  He  returned  to  Rome  in  879  to 
submit  to  the  Pope  some  controverted  questions,  and  to 
receive  the  Papal  approbation  for  the  use  of  his  Slavonic 
liturgy  in  the  Church  of  which  he  was  the  metropolitan. 
This  was  the  first  of  the  Slavonic  liturgies,  which  are  now 
used  in  the  Latin-Slavic,  the  Greco-Ruthenian,  the  Greco- 
Bulgarian  and  the  Greco-Rumanian  Rites. 

2.  Bohemians. 

The  Bohemian  duke  Borziwoy  and  his  wife  Ludmilla 
who  had  entered  into  alliance  with  Swatopluk,  were  con- 
verted by  St.  Methodius  and  received  baptism  at  his  hands. 
They  labored  most  effectually  in  the  midst  of  innumerable 
difficulties  to  spread  Christianity  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  their  domains.  The  Pagans  revolted  and  put 
to  death  St.  Ludmilla  and  her  son,  the  Duke  St.  Wences- 
laus,  but  they  were  conquered  by  Otho  the  Great  and  com- 
pelled to  restore  the  Christian  Church  in  Bohemia  (930). 

3.  Prussians. 

The  first  Bishop  of  Prague  was  the  great  St.  Adelbert, 
who  gave  up  his  see  and  consecrated  his  life  to  the  heathens. 
He  went  to  the  Prussian  tribe,  settled  along  the  shores  of 
the  Baltic  Sea,  and  was  put  to  death  by  the  Pagans  in 
987.  Ten  years  later  St.  Bruno  was  martyred  among  the 
same  people.  For  two  hundred  years  the  Prussians  con- 
tinued to  make  the  greatest  opposition  to  Christianity. 
Finally  they  were  forced  to  accept  it  by  the  Teutonic 
Knights. 

4.    Poles. 

Duke  Mieczvslav  married  a  Bohemian  princess  and 
embraced  Christianity.  In  867  he  published  an  order 
that  on  a  certain  Sunday  all  the  idols  should  be  broken 
in  pieces  and  cast  into  the  rivers. 


CONVERSIONS  OF  THE  BARBARIANS.  115 

5.    Russians. 

First  the  miracle  of  a  copy  of  the  Bible  remaining  un- 
hurt in  the  midst  of  the  flames  converted  many  Russians. 
Then  the  princesses  Olga  and  Ann  labored  zealously  to 
bring  the  bulk  of  the  people  to  Christ.  Finally  Vladimir 
the  Great  (972 — 1024),  who  was  the  grandson  of  the  former 
and  the  husband  of  the  latter,  ordered  the  idols  to  be 
destroyed  and  the  people  to  be  instructed  in  Christian 
doctrine  and  receive  the  sacrament  of  baptism, 

6.    Hungarians. 

SS.  Cyril  and  Methodius  had  visited  the  Khazars  and 
the  Bulgarians  and  made  many  conversions  among  them. 
In  Hungary-  Duke  Geysa  was  converted  by  his  pious  wife 
Sarolta.  Their  son  St.  Stephen  (997—1038)  was  the  true 
apostle  of  his  subjects.  He  often  prayed  prostrate  on  the 
ground  that  before  his  death  he  might  see  his  whole  king- 
dom converted  to  Christ.  He  died  on  the  feast  of  the 
Assumption,  commending  his  subjects  to  the  Mother  of 
God.  Pope  Sylvester  II  proclaimed  him  the  Apostle  of  the 
Hungarians,  and  conferred  upon  his  successors  in  perpetuity 
the  title  of  " Apostolic  King".  The  Hungarians  were  trans- 
formed into  thorough  Christians.  They  were  destined  to 
become  devoted  crusaders,  and  to  form  the  bulwark  of 
Europe  against  the  formidable  Solyman  the  Magnificent. 

V.    APOSTOLIC  SUCCESS  LACKING  AMONG  SECTARIES. 

In  the  conversion  of  Europe  there  are  two  facts  which 
show  that  the  Divine  mission  to  preach  with  real  and 
lasting  effect  exists  in  the  Catholic  Church  alone.  In  the 
first  place,  it  was  the  Bishops  of  Rome  who  sent  forth  the 
missionaries,  who  all  received  their  jurisdiction  directly 
from  their  hands,  or  at  least  sought  their  formal  appro- 
bation. Secondly,  the  Catholics  alone  thoroughly  con- 
verted Pagan  nations,  and  neither  heretics  or  schismatics 
ever  did  it.  It  is  true  that  there  have  been  some  apparent 
exceptions,  but  they  were  so  evanescent  that  they  only 
serve  to  prove  the  rule.  For  example,  the  Nestorians  and 
Monophysites  made  great  efforts  in  Asia  during  the  first 


116  THE  THREE  AGES. 

centuries  of  their  existence,  so  that  they  gained  a  foothold 
in  all  parts  of  that  continent.  But  they  did  not  have  the 
true  Christianity  to  impart,  nor  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
their  labors,  so  that  their  missions  have  long  ago  dis- 
appeared, leaving  scarcely  a  trace  behind.  The  separated 
Christians  of  the  Orient  were  conquered  by  the  Mussul- 
mans, and  did  not  convert  them.  History  does  not  record 
any  great  missionary  efforts  made  by  these  sectaries  for 
the  diffussion  of  such  Christianity,  as  they  possessed,  among 
their  Mohammedan  conquerors,  but  shows,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  steady  falling  off  on  the  Christian  side.  What  a 
difference  it  would  have  made  had  the  heretics  of  the  East 
been  Catholics!  The  Catholic  countries  of  the  West  were 
invaded  by  wilder  barbarians,  who  overthrew  the  great 
colossus  of  the  Roman  empire  without  being  able  to  replace 
it  by  any  civilized  organization.  Resistance  was  impossible, 
but  conversion  was  immediately  attempted ;  missionaries 
sprang  up  everywhere,  and  by  the  year  1000  they  had 
reconquered  to  Christ  almost  all  Europe.  When  the  Greeks 
were  zealous  and  loyal  to  the  Apostolic  See  they  converted 
neighboring  tribes ;  but  they  ceased  to  do  so,  to  any  great 
extent,  after  they  were  torn  from  the  Center  of  Unity. 
Where  is  the  evangelical  spirit  ?  Where  is  the  helping  hand 
of  God  ?  With  the  Eastern  separatists  or  with  the  Catho- 
lics of  the  West?  The  response  of  history  is  clear  and 
emphatic. 


CHAPTER  SIXTEENTH. 
EDUCATION  OF  THE  BARBARIANS. 

He  was  the  true  Light,  which  enlighteiieth  every  man  that 
cometh  into  this  world.    JOHN  i,  9. 

I.     ST.  BENEDICT  A  PROVIDENTIAL  MAN. 

AT  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  Europe  became  for 
centuries  the  battlefield  and  hunting-ground  of  bar- 
barian hordes.  Every  sign  of  agriculture,  learning  and 
religion  disappeared  before  them.  But  the  Benedictine 
monks  settled  in  their  midst  and  built  monasteries  which 
were  veritable  schools  of  civilization. 

Monasticism  is  a  life  of  seclusion;  it  is  a  state  of  per- 
fection, in  \vhich  are  practiced  the  Evangelical  counsels  of 
poverty,  chastity  and  obedience.  It  flourished  in  the 
deserts  of  Egypt  under  St.  Anthony,  and  it  was  propa- 
gated by  St.  Athanasius  in  the  West,  where  it  blossomed 
especially  under  St.  Martin  and  St.  Patrick.  But  human 
frailty  led  to  abuses.  St.  Benedict  not  only  reformed  these, 
but  also  adapted  the  monastic  institutions  to  the  needs  of 
the  times,  and  multiplied  and  organized  them  for  the  civili- 
zation of  the  Barbarians. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  Benedict  fled  from  the  dangers 
of  the  corrupted  world,  and  buried  himself  in  a  deep  canon 
near  Subiaco.  During  three  }rears  he  had  no  communi- 
cation with  man,  except  to  receive  food  daily  from  a  re- 
cluse of  the  mountain.  The  food  was  let  down  in  a  basket, 
provided  with  a  bell  to  notify  the  hermit.  Finally  Bene- 
dict was  discovered  by  shepherds.  The  monks  of  Yicovarro 
asked  him  to  become  their  abbot.  He  protested  that  his 
ways  were  not  their  ways  and  would  not  suit  them.  In 
fact,  after  he  had  yielded  to  their  entreaties  and  consented 
to  be  their  superior  they  became  so  incensed  against  him 
that  they  tried  to  poison  him.  But  by  a  miracle  the 


118  THE  THREE  AGES. 

poisoned  cup  broke  to  pieces,  and  St.  Benedict  left  them 
and  walked  back  to  Subiaco.  Many  holy  men  flocked 
around  him,  and  he  built  twelve  monasteries  for  twelve 
monks  each.  He  also  erected  convents  for  nuns,  under  the 
direction  of  his  sister  Scholastica.  His  order  spread  rapidly 
throughout  all  Italy ;  it  was  also  established  and  propa- 
gated in  France  by  St.  Maure  and  in  Sicily  by  St.  Placid. 
Prophecies  and  miracles  were  ordinary  occurrences  with  the 
saint,  and  gained  him  the  greatest  veneration  even  among 
the  barbarian  kings. 

In  529  God  directed  His  servant  to  erect  a  great 
monastery  at  Monte  Cassino,  a  mountain  situated  between 
Rome  and  Naples  and  overlooking  the  whole  country.  He 
found  there  a  temple  of  Apollo,  which  he  overthrew; 
and  he  converted  the  poor  heathens  who  frequented  it, 
thus  foreshadowing  the  apostolic  labors  of  his  spiritual 
children  in  all  future  ages.  It  was  here  that  the  patriarch 
of  the  Western  monks  wrote  his  admirable  rule,  which 
has  lasted  already  1200  years,  and  which  has  given  to  the 
Church  no  less  than  85  Popes,  700  Bishops,  and,  among 
innumerable  holy  religious,  55,000  subjects  publicly  honored 
for  sanctity  of  life.  At  one  time  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict 
had  60,000  monasteries. 

Benedict  impressed  upon  his  followers  two  great  virtues, 
especially  necessary  in  the  presence  of  the  barbarians,  to 
wit,  activity  and  stabil^.  He  succeeded  in  enlisting  in 
his  order  all  the  most  potent  civilizing  forces  that  were 
available.  Montalambert  says: 

"The  result  of  Benedict's  works  are  immense.  In  his  lifetime,  as  after 
his  death,  the  sons  of  the  noblest  races  of  Italy  and  of  the  best  of  the 
converted  barbarians  came  in  multitudes  to  Monte  Cassino.  They  re- 
turned and  descended  from  it  to  spread  themselves  over  all  the  West; 
missionaries  and  husbandmen,  who  were  soon  to  become  the  doctors  and 
pontiffs,  the  artists  and  legislators,  the  historians  and  poets  of  a 
new  world.  Less  than  a  century  after  the  death  of  Benedict  all  that  the 
barbarians  had  wrested  from  civilization  was  reconquered." 

II.    THE  GOSPEL  OF  INDUSTRY. 

The  roving  tribes  had  no  other  occupation  than  hunt- 
ing, fighting  and  warring.  They  wanted  to  live  without 
working,  and  to  feed  upon  the  birds  of  the  heavens,  the 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  BARBARIANS.  119 

animals  of  the  forest,  the  fishes  of  the  waters,  and  the 
crops  of  the  poor  serfs,  compelled  to  work  for  their  con- 
querors. The  barbarian  was  too  idle  too  \vork  and  the 
Roman  too  lazy.  From  the  sixth  century  woods,  marshes 
and  deserts  appeared  again,  and  wild  animals  took  pos- 
session of  many  parts  of  Europe  which  had  once  been 
inhabited  and  cultivated.  But  the  sons  of  Benedict  pene- 
trated into  the  dense  forests,  advanced  along  the  marshy 
river-banks  and  ascended  the  arid  mountain  slopes. 

They  pray,  they  work,  they  teach,  and  they  find  docile 
followers  among  the  wild  conquerors,  who  commence  to 
work  and  to  learn;  thus  they  reclaim  the  country  from 
its  barrenness  and  wildness.  Seven  hours  of  the  day  are 
allotted  to  labor,  and  two  hours  to  pious  reading.  The 
matins  are  sung  during  the  night;  then  comes  the  medi- 
tation until  the  break  of  day.  A  wide  range  of  occupation 
is  allowed,  according  to  the  talents,  skill  and  requirements 
of  each  individual  and  to  the  wants  of  the  community, 
which  must  needs  supply  itself  with  everything  necessary. 
There  is  manual  labor  to  be  done,  reading,  transcribing 
manuscripts,  and  giving  instructions  to  the  young  and 
the  ignorant. 

The  Benedictine  monks  were  the  pioneers  of  agriculture 
and  the  fathers  of  the  cities.  For  they  taught  the  warlike 
tribes  to  settle  down  on  the  land :  to  fell  the  dense  forests, 
to  drain  the  moors  of  the  north  and  irrigate  the  marshes 
of  the  south,  to  exterminate  the  wild  animals  and  fill  the 
land  with  cattle.  Around  the  monasteries  the  half-savage 
tribesmen  erected  their  huts,  and  their  they  learned  the 
rudiments  of  civilized  life  and  the  more  simple  trades. 
Such  settlements  formed  the  nucleus  of  many  of  the  future 
capitals  and  commercial  centres  of  Europe. 

The  monks  also  were  the  saviors  of  arts  and  letters, 
and  the  teachers  of  nations.  The  barbarians  had  swept 
everything  away.  Books  and  works  of  art  had  disappeared 
among  the  rude  masters  of  Europe.  The  monks  searched 
for  them  everywhere,  and  collected  them  together  at  much 
cost  of  time  and  money.  As  there  was  no  paper,  they 
procured  parchment  at  great  expense;  and  as  soon  as 
possible  each  monastery  provided  itself  with  immense  flocks 


120  THE  THREE  AGES. 

of  sheep,  whose  skins  furnished  this  precious  material. 
Many  religious  spent  their  life  in  copying  one  work,  and 
some  of  the  products  of  their  skill  are  worth  a  fortune 
to-day.  Before  all,  they  copied  the  Bible  countless  times, 
in  every  known  tongue,  and  thus  rendered  the  service  of 
evangelists.  But  they  also  preserved  the  monuments  of 
human  genius  in  the  profane  sciences.  Not  only  did  they 
copy  the  masterpieces  of  literature,  but  they  studied  and 
explained  them.  They  also  gave  shape  to  our  modern 
languages.  At  the  time  when  the  princes  gloried  in  igno- 
rance, the  monks  and  clergy  were  the  onlj^  classes  expert  in 
reading  and  able  to  write ;  whence  the  name  of  clerk  (con- 
traction of  cleric,  a  person  in  either  major  or  minor  orders) 
came  to  signify  a  writer.  The  monks  also  gathered  and 
preserved  the  monuments  of  ancient  art  and  architecture; 
and  they  not  only  imitated  them  but  immeasurably  im- 
proved upon  them  in  their  own  constructions.  Thus  they 
were  the  most  progressive  men  of  their  times.  Still,  Luther 
accuses  them  of  laziness  and  ignorance !  To  those  despised 
monks,  O  Luther!  we  owe  our  Bible,  we  owe  the  great 
masters  of  Greece  and  Rome,  we  owe  the  most  glorious 
monuments  of  our  architecture,  and  the  inimitable  master- 
pieces of  our  museums !  Much  more  of  their  work,  and  of 
the  classical  literature  which  they  so  carefully  preserved, 
would  remain  to  us  today  were  it  not  for  the  wholesale 
destruction  of  monastic  libraries,  of  which,  at  various 
times  and  in  various  countries,  the  Albigenses,  Hussites, 
Lutherans,  Calvinists,  Anabaptists,  Presbyterians,  Epis- 
copalians, Freemasons  and  other  sectaries  have  been  guilty. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  nine-tenths,  at  the  very  lowest 
estimate,  of  the  work  of  the  Medieval  monks  has  been 
annihilated  by  the  Protestants  and  infidels  of  various 
stripes,  in  their  blind  and  ignorant  rage  against  every- 
thing connected  in  any  way  with  Catholicity. 

III.    STABILITY  OF  THE  BENEDICTINE  ORDER. 

The  second  invasion  of  the  barbarians  everywhere 
multiplied  material  and  moral  ruins ;  but  it  could  not 
destroy  the  work  or  extinguish  the  vitality  of  the  Bene- 
dictine order.  As  soon  as  the  monks  started  their  in- 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  BARBARIANS.  121 

stitutions  they  were  overthrown,  and  when  rebuilt  they 
were  destroyed  again  and  again.  But  the  men  of  God 
restored  them  twenty  times  if  necessary.  In  times  of 
extreme  danger  they  fled  with  their  treasures  of  religion, 
art  and  science  to  the  mountain-tops,  where  they  built 
fortified  convents,  wherein  to  store  and  defend  the  last 
remnants  of  the  legacy  of  the  past.  Such  were  St.  Gall  in 
Switzerland,  and  Mont  St.  Michel  in  Brittany. 

The  evils  of  the  Iron  Age  effected  even  the  order  of 
St.  Benedict,  and  at  one  time  threatened  to  ruin  it.  But 
a  simple  return  to  the  old  rule  saved  it  and  saved  the 
world.  Two  causes  had  conspired  to  undermine  its  strength 
and  its  virtue.  The  continual  influx  of  barbarians  kept  up 
a  savage  spirit  in  the  world,  which  penetrated  also  into 
the  cloister.  Wealth  and  power  naturally  came  to  the 
monastic  insitutions  because  of  their  great  benefactions  to 
society ;  and  on  this  account  greedy  princes  tried  to  thrust 
themselves  or  their  tools  into  the  rich  abbeys.  Such  men 
would  have  utterly  corrupted  and  destroyed  any  merely 
human  institution.  But  St.  Benedict  had  received  from  an 
angel  of  Heaven  the  promise  of  immortality  for  his  order. 
In  910,  St.  Berno  founded  the  abbey  of  Cluny  in  France, 
were  he  restored  the  primitive  rule  and  fervor  of  the 
Benedictines.  Soon  the  convent  of  Cluny  blossomed  out 
like  the  convents  erected  by  St.  Benedict  himself;  and  it 
showed  itself  capable  of  reforming  the  world. 

From  Cluny  came  many  of  the  greatest  men  and 
movements  of  the  Church;  such  as  St.  Gregory,  the  true 
reformer  of  his  age,  and  the  institutions  of  the  truce  of 
God  and  the  right  of  asylum,  so  useful  in  those  warlike 
times.  The  truce  of  God  was  introduced  by  St.  Odilo,  the 
third  abbot  of  Cluny,  in  1031.  From  Wednesday  night  to 
the  following  Monday  morning,  during  Advent,  Lent  and 
Eastertide,  and  on  every  feastday  and  fastday  of  the  year, 
all  acts  of  hostility,  violence  and  revenge  were  forbidden. 
The  multitudes  received  these  measures  with  hands  uplifted 
in  thanksgiving,  crying  joyfully  "Peace!  Peace!"  The 
Bishops  gathered  at  the  council  of  Limoges  placed  the  ban 
of  excommunication  upon  those  warriors  who  might  dare 
to  trample  these  laws  under  their  feet. 


122  THE  THREE  AGES, 

The  right  of  asylum  was  granted  to  places  consecrated 
to  God.  When  men  were  seeking  to  wreak  vengeance  with 
their  own  hands,  any  one  who  was  being  pursued  unto 
death  was  safe  if  he  could  reach  a  church.  There  he  was 
considered  under  the  protection  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  no  foe 
dared  disturb  him  in  that  sacred  shelter. 

IV.    MAKING  HASTE  SLOWLY. 

Superficial  men  have  sometimes  said  that  the  bar- 
barians should  have  been  civilized  in  a  shorter  time;  but 
gradual  transformation  is  the  only  practical  method  in 
the  education  of  savages.  The  Benedictines  did  not  at- 
tempt to  force  nature,  but  only  to  second  it,  and  they 
thus  formed  nations  of  saints  and  races  of  heroes.  In  our 
own  time  and  on  our  own  continent  the  monks  did  not 
attempt  to  civilize  the  aborigines  all  at  once,  but  allowed 
generations  for  such  a  tremendous  task;  and  they  thus 
preserved  them  and  placed  them  on  the  road  to  full  develop- 
ment and  complete  culture.  There  are  now  30,000,000  of 
civilized  and  half-civilized  Indians  in  Central  and  South 
America,  who,  in  a  few  centuries,  at  most,  will  make 
powerful  nations.  The  Protestants,  on  the  contrary,  have 
tried  to  rush  the  education  of  the  Indians ;  but  they  suc- 
ceed only  in  giving  them  the  vices  of  the  white  men 
without  their  virtues,  and  thus  killing  them  off.  In  the 
immense  territory  of  the  United  States  there  are  only 
250,000  Indians.  Only  100,000  of  them  are  Christians, 
the  great  bulk  of  these  being  Catholics ;  all  the  others  are 
still  Pagans,  and  they  live  in  the  most  miserable  condition 
and  are  dying  out  year  by  year.  If  our  own  barbarian 
forefathers  had  had  to  depend  on  Protestant  missionaries, 
and  the  tender  mercies  of  Protestant  rulers,  they  would 
not  have  been  the  progenitors  of  the  leading  nations  of 
the  world,  but  would  have  been  exterminated  like  our 
unhappy  ludians. 


CHAPTER  SEVENTEENTH. 
CONSTITUTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY. 

Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers ;  for  there  is 
no  power  but  from  God,  and  those  that  are,  are  ordained  of 
God.  ROMANS  xm,  1. 

I.    DISTINCT  BUT  HARMONIOUS  POWERS. 

Christian  society  was  governed  by  a  spiritual  and 
a  temporal  head ;  who,  though  entirety  different  in 
their  functions  and  prerogatives,  were  completely  one  in 
their  aims  and  influence,  and,  so  far  as  the  unwritten 
constitution  of  Christendom  was  strictly  adhered  to,  gave 
each  other  an  effective  cooperation:  the  Pope  and  the 
Emperor.  The  Prankish  kings  donated  or  confirmed  tem- 
poral states  to  the  Popes,  to  make  them  independent  in 
their  spiritual  administration.  The  Popes  consecrated  them 
and  their  successors  as  the  defenders  of  the  Church  and 
the  bond  of  union  between  the  various  tribes  and  fiefs  that 
divided  Europe.  The  Popes,  independent  at  home,  found 
in  the  emperors  powerful  executors  of  the  Christian  laws; 
and  the  Emperors,  consecrated  by  the  Yicar  of  Christ, 
were  accepted  as  over-lords  by  the  Christian  states.  It  is* 
remarkable  that  in  those  days  of  force  and  violence,  these 
supreme  offices  were  elective  and  that  by  the  best  qualified 
ecclesiastical  and  temporal  princes. 

II.    THE  PAPACY  AND  ITS  TEMPORAL  POWERS. 
1.    Local  Independence. 

The  Popes  need  a  temporal  sovereignty.  They  are  the 
exponents  of  the  Gospel  for  nations  as  well  as  for  indi- 
viduals, and  they  need  the  assistance  of  a  large  number 
of  officials  for  their  world- wide  administration.  To  inspire 
confidence  in  their  official  decisions  the  must  be  free  from 


124  THE  THREE  AGES. 

secular  interference  and  from  temporal  rulers ;  consequently 
they  must  have  a  territory  of  their  own.  Moreover,  to 
provide  for  the  numerous  officials  of  their  court,  they  must 
have  a  steady  and  large  income,  which  a  state  alone  can 
be  counted  on  to  give.  The  Popes  have  a  right  to  the 
States  of  the  Church  by  the  fivefold  title  of  cession,  choice, 
prescription,  preservation  and  improvement. 

Rome  is  the  city  of  the  Popes  by  right  of  gift,  of 
popular  election  and  saecular  prescription.  From  the  time 
of  the  conversion  of  Constantine,  lands  and  cities  had  been 
granted  to  the  Holy  Roman  Church  aud  considered  the 
Patrimony  of  Peter.  During  the  invasion  of  the  barbarians 
the  Popes  had  been  the  only  protectors  against  their 
devastations,  and  had  been  recognized  by  the  common 
consent  of  the  people  as  the  heads  of  the  Roman  common- 
wealth. When  the  fierce  Aistulph,  king  of  the  Lombards, 
conquered  from  the  Greeks  the  old  Exarchate  of  Ravenna 
and  marched  on  Rome,  thus  threatening  the  independence 
of  the  Holy  See,  Pope  Stephen  III  repaired  in  person  to 
Pepin,  the  new  king  of  the  Franks,  to  ask  him  to  rescue 
the  Supreme  Pontificate  and  the  Roman  people  from  the 
yoke  of  the  invaders.  Pepin  twice  descended  into  Italy, 
and  each  time  laid  siege  to  Pavia,  the  Langobardian 
capital.  Aistulph  ceded  to  the  Frankish  king  all  his  con- 
quests in  middle  Italy,  consisting  of  twenty  two  cities,  and 
Pepin  bestowed  the  title  to  the  whole  territorj^  upon  the 
Roman  Pontiffs. 

Not  only  did  the  Popes  legitimately  acquire  their 
temporal  States,  but  they  possessed  them  for  a  thousand 
years,  and  found  in  them  the  prestige  and  maintenance 
humanly  necessary  for  the  ruling  of  the  Christian  world. 
No  government  of  Europe  can  exhibit  such  a  long  and 
undisputed  possession.  The  present  usurpation  of  the 
Freemasons  cannot  destroy  the  right  of  the  Sovereign 
Pontiffs,  and  can  no  more  last  than  any  of  the  similar 
spoliations  that  have  taken  place  in  the  past. 

Rome  is  also  the  city  of  the  Popes  by  title  of  pre- 
servation and  improvement.  They  alone  saved  it  from 
utter  destruction  and  made  it  the  capital  of  the  Christian 
world.  Rome,  which  had  destroyed  so  many  cities,  would 


CONSTITUTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  125 

itself  have  been  wiped  out  forever  by  the  avenging  nations 
had  it  not  been  the  seat  and  capital  of  the  Vicars  of 
Christ.  Cardinal  Manning  says: 

"Rome  has  been  assailed  nine  times  by  invading  hordes,  who  have 
never  been  able  to  root  themselves  there.  Three  times  it  has  been  sacked 
with  all  manner  of  terrible  outrages.  The  city  has  been  twice  destroyed, 
and  rebuilt  by  the  Popes,  aided  by  the  gifts  of  the  Christian  world. 
And  once  the  city  was  so  desolate,  that  for  forty  days  it  had  not  an  in- 
habitant and  no  human  voice  was  heard  in  it;  there  was  only  the  bark 
of  the  foxes  on  the  Aventine  hill.  Fortyfive  Popes  have  either  been 
driven  out  of  Rome,  or  martyred,  or  never  been  permitted  to  set  foot 
in  it." 

Not  only  did  the  Popes  preserve  Rome,  but  they  made  it 
the  most  splendid  city  of  the  earth,  and,  as  Leo  XIII  says : 

"The  asylum  and  home  of  the  fine  arts  and  of  learning,  which  have 
won  for  her  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  whole  world." 

2.    International  Authority. 

The  Prankish  princes  Charles  Martel,  Pepin  the  Short 
and  Charlemagne  had  united  the  German  tribes  under 
their  sceptre  and  thus  established  peace  among  Christians. 
Moreover,  they  were  the  faithful  protectors  of  the  Roman 
Pontiffs  against  their  violent  neighbors,  and  the  undaunted 
defenders  of  Christendom  against  the  fanatical  Mussulmans. 
Leo  III,  desirous  of  securing  permanently  such  eminent 
services,  conceived  the  lofty  plan  of  restoring  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  of  bestowing  its  title  upon  the  most  powerful 
of  the  Christian  princes.  It  was  a  stroke  of  Papal  genius 
to  establish,  without  the  shedding  of  a  single  drop  of 
blood,  an  empire  which  was  to  last  a  thousand  years  and 
render  innumerable  services  to  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ. 
At  Christmas,  in  the  year  800,  Charlemagne,  wearing  the 
insignia  of  a  Roman  patrician,  attended  Divine  service  in 
the  church  of  St.  Peter,  and  was  praying  before  the  altar. 
The  Sovereign  Pontiff,  draped  in  his  stately  vestments, 
approached  the  kneeling  monarch,  and  placed  upon  his 
brow  a  diadem  sparkling  with  jewels.  The  lofty  arches 
of  the  temple  rang  with  the  enthusiastic  acclamations  of 
the  people :  "Long  life  and  victory  to  Charles  the  Augustus, 
crowned  by  God,  the  great  and  pacific  Emperor  of  the 
Romans!"  The  Pope  anointed  Charlemagne  and  was  the 
first  to  pay  homage  to  the  new  Emperor. 


126  THE  THREE  AGES. 

"From  that  time/'  writes  Archbishop  Kenrick,  "the  Bishop  of  Rome 
necessarily  enjoyed  an  immense  influence  over  the  Empire  and  the  king- 
doms which  arose  within  its  shadow ;  and  he  was  regarded  by  princes 
and  peoples  as  their  father  and  their  judge.  He  created  a  new  order  of 
things;  assigning  to  each  potentate  his  place  in  the  political  world,  and 
controlling  by  law  the  movement  of  each  to  maintain  the  general  har- 
mony. His  relations  to  the  Empire  were  most  direct,  since  he  determined 
who  should  elect  the  Emperor  and  exercised  the  right  to  determine 
whether  the  individual  chosen  was  admissible.  The  power  exercised  by 
the  Popes  in  designating  the  emperor  and  giving  the  royal  title  to  the 
chiefs  of  the  various  nations  cannot  be  fairly  branded  as  a  usurpation, 
since  it  is  vested  in  them  by  the  force  of  circumstances;  their  spiritual 
office  placing  them  at  the  head  of  the  Christian  world  and  inspiring  con- 
fidence in  the  justice  and  wisdom  of  their  acts.  It  was  not  the  result  of 
positive  concessions  made  by  the  respective  nations;  although  it  was 
acquiesced  in  and  confirmed  by  the  free  acts  of  princes  and  peoples. 
Neither  was  it  a  Divine  prerogative  of  their  office ;  but  it  naturally  grew 
up  out  of  their  ecclesiastical  relations;  and  was  strengthened  and  sus- 
tained by  their  sacred  character." 

III.    THE  EMPIRE  AND  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 
1.    Bond  of  union. 

The  German  race  had  not  entirely  emerged  from  the 
tribal  condition,  and  it  was  still  more  subdivided  by  the 
feudal  relations.  The  Holy  Empire  created  a  sacred  bond 
of  union  among  the  tribes  and  fiefs.  Italy  and  Germany 
were  divided  into  several  tribes  or  nations  and  subdivided 
into  many  fiefs  or  principalities;  but  they  were  all  united 
in  one  powerful  commonwealth  by  the  consecration  of  the 
Christian  Emperor  of  the  Germans.  France  and  England 
were  also  divided  into  tribes  and  fiefs ;  but  they  were  con- 
trolled by  their  hereditary  kings  and  reduced  by  them  into 
one  nationality.  Moreover  they  were  Celto-Teuton,  and 
far  away  from  the  center  of  Europe,  and  they  did  not 
form  an  actual  part  of  the  Holy  Empire  of  the  German 
nations — although  they  were  great  factors  in  the  Christian 
Commonwealth  that  sprang  up  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Vicars  of  Christ.  The  role  of  Holy  Emperor  soon  was 
fulfilled  by  the  sturdy  kings  of  Germany,  and  Otho  the 
Great  passed  into  Italy  in  the  most  lawless  times  and 
reestablished  order.  Immense  services  were  rendered  to  the 
Popes  by  most  of  the  German  Emperors,  which  being  of 
ordinary  occurrence  are  but  slightly  mentioned  in  history.  If 


CONSTITUTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  127 

we  read  of  the  tyranning  of  two  Henrys  and  two  Fredericks 
it  is  because  they  are  exceptions  to  the  rule ;  and  moreover 
they  were  put  down  mainly  by  the  upright  German  princes, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Popes.  Alzog  says: 

"Another  object  of  the  Church  in  establishing  the  Empire  was  to 
unite  all  nations  by  the  bond  of  Christian  fellowship;  and  she  impressed 
upon  the  mind  of  the  Emperor  that  he  was  called  of  God  as  mediator 
and  pacificator  of  all  the  states  of  Christendom.  The  establishment  of 
the  Western  Empire  put  an  end  to  the  conflicts  of  the  migratory  Ger- 
manic tribes,  and  served  as  the  keystone  to  the  great  political  fabric  in- 
to which  the  Germanic  nations  were  consolidated.  Each  of  the  Germanic 
nations,  possessing  individual  and  well-defined  traits  of  character,  would 
consent  to  no  S3^stem  of  centralization,  if  the  Empire  representing  such 
did  not  itself  recognize  some  superior  and  universal  power,  which  might 
form  a  point  of  contact  and  a  center  of  unity  for  all.  They  all  recog- 
nized the  Church  as  such;  and  thus  the  Western  Empire,  being  estab- 
lished on  a  thoroughly  Christian  basis,  was  called  the  Holy  Empire  of 
the  Germanic  nations." 

2.     The  Lord  and  his  Fiefs. 

The  savage  nature  of  the  barbarians  was  not  softened 
at  once,  but  continued  to  manifest  itself  for  centuries  in 
many  deeds  of  violence.  Often  ambitious  kings  and  emper- 
ors strove  to  establish  absolute  monarchies,  while  petty 
princes  oppressed  their  subjects  and  attacked  their  neigh- 
bors. The  feudal  system  was  a  check  to  such  abuses,  for 
it  clearly  denned  the  rights  and  duties  of  every  one,  and 
secured  order  and  liberty  among  the  stormy  elements  of 
new  Europe.  The  Church  blessed  this  feudal  constitution 
as  the  best  possible  under  the  circumstances. 

Europe  was  completely  organized  under  the  feudal 
system  from  the  ninth  to  the  fourtheenth  century.  Lands 
were  granted  under  conditions  of  personal  service  during 
war  and  peace.  They  were  called  fiefs  or  feuds,  on 
account  of  the  mutual  obligations  of  faithfulness  (fides) 
between  the  two  parties.  A  fief  is  an  estate  held  from  a 
superior  on  condition  of  personal  and  especially  military 
service.  The  superior  granting  the  land  is  called  a  suzer- 
ain; the  inferrior  receiving  it  a  vassal.  The  vassals  had 
to  attend  their  suzerain  personally  in  court  as  judge  or 
peer  (par  curiae) ;  and  in  war  with  material  contributions, 
horses  and  men.  They  were  usually  called,  according  to 


128  THE  THREE  AGES. 

their  rank,  dukes,  earls  or  counts,  marquises,  viscounts 
and  barons.  Before  receiving  their  titles,  they  had  to  pay 
homage  to  their  lord.  Kneeling  before  him,  without  helmet, 
sword  or  spurs,  they  placed  their  hands  between  his  and 
promised  under  oath  to  become  his  men  and  to  serve  him 
with  life  and  limb,  faithfully  and  loyally.  Then  they  re- 
ceived the  investiture  of  their  fief,  either  by  actual  or  sym- 
bolical conveyance.  They  were  either  really  put  into  pos- 
session of  the  ground,  or  given  a  stone,  a  wand  or  a 
branch  thereof  in  token  of  the  transfer.  The  vassals  exer- 
cised an  independent  authority  in  their  several  domains. 
Fortified  in  their  castles,  they  controlled  the  whole  neigh- 
borhood; they  rendered  justice  and  coined  money.  This 
system  of  local  jurisdiction  gave  the  authority  to  those 
who  were  able  to  maintain  order  in  the  country.  It  also 
prevented  the  foundation  of  a  universal  and  uniform 
monarchy  which  would  have  checked  the  development  of 
the  national  character  of  each  people.  But  it  cut  up  the 
land  into  isolated  districts,  and  it  left  it  possible  for  a  lord 
to  oppress  his  subjects  and  to  attack  his  neighbors  if  he 
chose  to  do  so,  their  own  suzerains  being  often  too  much 
occupied  elsewhere  to  redress  the  \vrongs  of  the  petty 
vassals  and  the  tenantry.  There  arose  and  raged  many 
and  long  wars  between  neighboring  castles  for  private 
interests  or  personal  revenge.  But  checks  were  put  upon 
the  violence  of  the  landed  nobility  by  the  creation  of  a 
knighthood  and  official  peerage,  and  by  the  granting  of 
franchises  to  the  communes. 

The  knights  were  the  sworn  and  consecrated  champions 
of  the  weak,  the  widows  and  the  orphans.  By  their  strict 
rules  of  justice  and  honor  they  created  a  lofty  spirit  among 
the  nobles,  so  as  to  shame  them  from  violating  the  rights 
of  others,  and  from  oppressing  the  feeble  who  were  under 
their  power.  From  the  twelfth  century  onward,  the  suzer- 
ains created  a  personal  and  an  official  nobility,  for  the 
knights,  the  landless  younger  sons  of  the  nobles,  and  the 
officers  of  the  state.  Moreover,  they  granted  franchises 
and  privileges  to  the  burgesses  of  the  cities  and  the  com- 
munes ;  who  where  thus  enabled  to  withstand  the  exactions 
of  the  fortified  landlord. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  129 

The  former  slaves,  and  sometimes  the  prisoners  of  war, 
with  their  descendants,  \vere  at  that  time  in  the  condition 
technically  called  serfdom.  Serfs  are  persons  attached  to 
the  land,  to  work  it  for  the  benefit  of  others,  at  the  same 
time  deriving  from  it  a  livelihood  for  themselves  and  their 
families.  They  were  also  called  villeins  or  farmhands,  be- 
cause they  were  to  occupy  and  work  the  farm  (villa)  for 
the  free  man's  benefit.  Although  deprived  of  a  part  of 
their  liberty,  they  were  protected  in  their  lives  and  other 
rights.  If  ill-treated  they  could  flee  to  free  cities  or  to 
churches,  where  they  could  not  be  molested.  If  they  re- 
mained away  from  their  lord  a  whole  year  they  acquired 
full  liberty.  But  ordinarily  they  were  well  treated  and 
stayed  with  their  masters,  and  often  they  were  in  more 
comfortable  circumstances  than  many  farmers  of  Europe 
and  America  in  our  days. 

The  feudal  constitution  was  not  the  best  possible,  but 
it  was  the  most  practical  for  the  times.  The  temporal 
power  of  the  Popes,  when  in  firm  hands,  restrained  the 
ambition  of  the  petty  princes  of  Italy.  The  Empire  de- 
manded respect  for  the  laws  of  Popes,  from  the  proudest 
and  boldest  monarchs  themselves.  The  sacred  character  of 
the  Emperor  made  a  bond  of  union  between  hostile  tribes, 
and  the  landed  princes  maintained  order  and  liberty  in 
their  different  fiefs.  Independence  and  order  were  alike 
safe-guarded,  and  there  thus  grew  up  the  greatest  nations 
that  have  ever  appeared,  and  the  ones  that  today  rule  the 
whole  world. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEENTH. 
DEFENSE  OF  CHURCH'S  LIBERTY. 

He  shall  rule  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth.     PSALMS  LXXI,  8. 

I.     INTRUSION  OF  UNWORTHY  CLERICS. 

TN  the  ninth  century  it  became  a  common  abuse  for  royal 
barbarians  to  thrust  their  friends  into  the  sanctnary, 
on  account  of  the  benefits  attached  to  certain  ecclesiastical 
posts.  They  often  sold  such  places  for  money  to  corrupt 
and  worldly  clergymen,  whom  they  installed  in  office  as  if 
they  really  had  the  power  of  conferring  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction.  This  sacrilegious  practice  filled  the  Church 
with  unworthy  or  scandalous  men  and  caused  a  wide- 
spread degeneracy  of  morals.  When  St.  Gregory  VII 
ascended  the  throne  of  St.  Pete,r,  Henry  IV  of  Germany 
was  carrying  that  nefarious  traffic  to  its  last  excess.  The 
holy  Pontiff  arose  like  a  lion  to  extirpate  the  crying 
abuse,  and  to  reclaim  for  the  Church  the  right  of  choosing 
her  own  ministers.  For  half  a  century  Henry  and  his  son 
opposed  the  reform  of  the  clergy,  and  carried  on  that 
terrible  war  of  investitures,  which  crimsoned  all  Europe. 
Though  Gregory  died  during  the  struggle,  he  lived  again 
in  his  successors,  who  continued  his  noble  combat,  and 
the  ninth  Ecumenical  Council,  held  at  the  Lateran  in  1123, 
absolutely  forbade  the  princes  to  invest  prelates  with 
ecclesiastical  insignia. 

II.    LEADERS  OF  THE  CONFLICT. 

Henry  IV  (1056—1106)  lost  his  father  at  the  age  of 
five  years,  and,  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  vicious 
masters,  grew  up  with  strong  and  unbridled  passions.  At 
sixteen  he  repudiated  his  wife,  and  thenceforth  respected 


DEFENSE  OF  CHURCH'S  LIBERTY.  131 

neither  virginal  purity  nor  conjugal  chastity.  He  cruelly 
oppressed  the  Saxons,  and  he  attacked  the  Church  all  his 
lifetime.  But  he  was  a  hero  strong  enough  to  fight 
sixtysix  battles  and  a  genius  able  to  cope  with  the  host 
of  enemies  made  through  his  crimes. 

Hildebrand  was  the  son  of  a  carpenter,  and  became  a 
monk.  But  his  genius,  his  activity  and  his  holiness  made 
him  the  greatest  man  of  the  Middle  Ages.  First  he  was 
the  guide  and  counsellor  of  seven  Popes,  whom  he  rescued 
from  the  tyranny  of  the  local  princes.  As  Pope  himself, 
under  the  name  of  Gregory  VII  (1073—1085),  he  carried 
on  singlehanded  a  gigantic  war  against  the  powerful  Henry 
of  Germany.  His  first  seven  successors,  formed  by  his  hands 
and  animated  with  his  spirit,  carried  on  his  great  struggle 
and  the  Church  was  at  last  emancipated  from  the  thralldom 
of  princes  and  free  again  to  select  her  own  ministers. 

The  practice  of  lay  investiture  had  intruded  into  the 
Church  incontinent  and  sch  smatical  prelates;  Gregory 
attacked  the  evil  at  once  by  a  method  which  revealed  his 
genius  and  his  power.  In  the  Paschal  Synod  of  1074  he 
interdicted  the  religious  services  held  by  incontinent  priests 
if  they  refused  to  amend.  Heretofore  suspension  and 
deposition  had  been  resorted  to,  affecting  only  the  un- 
worthy  pastors,  who  had  lost  all  conscience  and  continued 
to  exert  their  faculties.  But  the  interdict  seperated  them 
from  the  iaithful,  who  could  receive  no  sacrament  at  their 
hands  and  ceased  to  give  them  support.  That  reduced 
these  worldly  men  to  terms.  The  great  cause  of  all  the 
abuses  was  the  nomination  and  installation  of  prelates  by 
lay  princes.  Henry  IV  of  Germany  practiced  this  openly, 
and  was  publicly  selling  benefices  to  the  corrupted  canons 
of  Goslar,  where  his  court  resided.  In  vain  did  Gregory 
entreat  the  prince  to  cease  that  scandalous  traffic,  which 
was  a  source  of  great  revenue  to  the  prince  but  of  sacri- 
legious extortion  for  the  Church.  In  the  second  Council  of 
Rome,  1075,  the  undaunted  Pope  issued  a  decree  ''for- 
bidding any  layman,  of  whatsoever  rank,  whether  emperor, 
marquis,  prince  or  king,  to  confer  the  investiture;  and  any 
cleric,  priest  or  Bishop,  to  receive  it  for  benefices,  abbeys, 
bishoprics  or  ecclesiastical  dignities  of  any  kind." 


132  THE  THREE  AGES. 

III.    HILDEBRAND'S  HEROIC  STRUGGLE. 

Henry  was  exasperated  at  what  it  pleased  him  to  call 
a  Papal  aggression.  First  he  formed  a  conspiracy  to  seize 
the  Pope  at  Rome  and  to  replace  him  by  another  man. 
The  plot  was  carried  out  at  Christmas  by  a  party  of 
ruffians  in  the  Emperor's  pay,  and  Gregory  was  made  a 
prisoner,  but  the  people  rose  in  a  body  and  compelled 
Henry's  trembling  emissaries  to  liberate  their  beloved  Pon- 
tiff. Then  the  Emperor  openly  proceeded  to  the  "depo- 
sition" of  Gregory.  He  convoked  an  anti-council  of  sub- 
servient German  Bishops  at  Worms,  whither  went  also 
the  degraded  Cardinal  Candidus,  who  libellously  accused 
Gregory  of  simony,  murder,  adultery  and  witchcraft;  and 
the  pliant  courtier-prelates  decreed  the  deposition  of  the 
Pope  without  so  much  as  hearing  a  witness.  This  *  'sen- 
tence" was  defiantly  read  in  the  Paschal  Synod  of  1076. 
Gregory,  after  protesting  that  he  had  been  compelled  to 
assume  the  Pontificate,  continued: 

"In  the  name  of  Almighty  God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  and  by 
His  authority,  I  forbid  Henry  to  govern  the  German  realm  and  Italy. 
I  release  all  Christians  from  the  oath  by  which  they  have  bound  them- 
selves to  him,  and  I  forbid  any  one  to  serve  him  as  king.  Since  he  has 
refused  to  obey  as  a  Christian,  rejecting  the  counsels  given  him  for  his 
salvation,  and  withdrawing  from  the  Church  which  he  seeks  to  rend,  I 
hereby  declare  him  anathema;  that  all  nations  may  know,  even  by 
experience,  that  'Thou  art  Peter',  and  that  upon  this  rock  the  Son  of 
the  living  God  has  built  His  Church  against  which  the  gates  of  Hell 
shall  never  prevail." 

A  bull  of  excommunication  announced  this  deposition 
to  all  Christendom,  and  the  hand  of  God  struck  dead  many 
of  Henry's  impious  followers.  The  German  princes  met  at 
Tribur  and  threatened  to  provide  a  new  sovereign  unless 
Henry  would  agree  to  publicly  seek  absolution  from  the 
Pope,  and  in  the  meanwhile  to  lay  aside  all  royal  insignia 
and  functions.  Henry  resolved  to  gain  Pope  Gregory  in  a 
private  audience,  and  he  crossed  the  Alps  in  the  cold  of 
a  bitter  winter.  The  Pontiff,  who  was  on  his  way  to 
German}^,  withdrew  into  the  impregnable  fortress  of  Ca- 
nossa,  the  owner  of  which,  the  Countess  Mathilda,  was 
ever  the  loyal  friend  of  the  Pope,  though  she  was  closely 
related  to  the  imperial  family.  Henry  had  to  do  penance 


DEFENSE  OF  CHURCH'S  LIBERTY.  133 

for  three  days  before  he  was  admitted  to  the  presence  of 
His  Holiness ;  after  which  Gregory  received  him  honorably, 
and  absolved  him  from  excommunication  under  condition 
that  he  should  appear  before  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  and 
abide  by  its  decisions. 

Those  who  find  this  treatment  too  severe  must  re- 
member that  the  Pope  had  to  safeguard  the  interests  of 
the  German  princes  and  people,  and  had  to  test  in  some 
way  the  sincerity  of  the  often  faithless  prince.  The  mistake 
was  that  absolution  was  granted  at  all.  Had  Gregory 
left  his  enemy  to  the  mercy  of  the  indignant  German  princes 
Henry  \vould  have  been  deposed  forever  by  the  Imperial 
Diet,  and  would  not  have  troubled  Christendom  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  longer  as  he  did.  Henry's  escort 
revolted  against  his  submission,  and,  their  evil  counsels 
prevailing  with  him,  he  immediately  occupied  the  passes  of 
the  Alps,  to  prevent  the  Pope  from  going  to  the  Diet,  at 
which  he  himself  refused  to  appear.  The  princes  declared 
the  throne  vacant  and  selected  another  emperor  in  the 
person  of  Rudolph  of  Suabia;  but  the  Pope,  in  his  scru- 
pulous anxiety  to  avoid  doing  any  injustice  to  Henry, 
withheld  the  confirmation  which  was  necessary  to  give 
effect  to  the  sentence  of  deposition  and  the  new  election. 
The  perfidious  Henry  protracted  negotiations  for  three 
years,  with  no  other  object  than  to  wear  out  the  patience 
and  undermine  the  influence  of  his  competitor,  while  in- 
dustriously strengthening  his  own  position.  Finally,  after 
having  exhausted  all  milder  expedients,  Gregory  in  a 
Council  at  Rome  excommunicated  and  deposed  Henry  for 
the  second  time  and  recognized  the  election  of  Rudolph. 
But  Henr\-  now  felt  himself  in  a  position  to  defy  the  sen- 
tence. He  convoked  two  schismatic  Councils  of  twentynine 
simoniacal  Bishops,  who  pretended  to  depose  Hildebrand 
and  elected  an  antipope  in  the  person  of  the  degraded 
Bishop  of  Ravenna,  Guibert,  who  took  the  name  of 
Clement  III.  Rudolph  fell  in  a  battle,  and  Henry  was  able 
to  direct  his  troops  towards  Italy.  The  princes  elected  as 
his  successor  Herman  of  Luxemburg,  but  he,  nothwith- 
standing  great  personal  bravery,  was  unable  to  withstand 
his  powerful  antagonist  or  vindicate  his  right  to  the  throne. 


134  THE  THREE  AGES. 

From  1081  to  1083  Henry  several  times  laid  siege  to 
Rome,  and  made  overtures  to  the  Pope  and  to  the  people. 
In  1083  Gregory  convoked  a  Council  at  Rome  to  settle 
the  civil  war;  but  Henry  intercepted  the  envoys  of  Herman. 
The  undaunted  Pontiff  excommunicated  all  those  who  had 
been  a  party  to  the  crime  of  detaining  or  misleading  them. 
The  following  year  Henry  besieged  Rome  for  the  fourth 
time,  and  offered  such  bribes  to  the  people  that  they 
opened  the  gates  to  him.  Gregory  withdrew  into  the 
strong  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  and  Henry  was  crowned 
Emperor  by  his  antipope.  That  very  day,  hearing  that 
the  Norman  king  of  Naples  was  hastening  to  the  rescue 
of  the  Pontiff,  the  German  troops  retired  in  haste.  The 
Norman  troops,  to  punish  the  treason  of  the  Romans, 
terribly  pillaged  the  faithless  city,  and  the  Pope  withdrew 
with  his  liberator  to  Salerno.  Here  he  held  a  last  synod 
and  renewed  his  excommunication  against  Henry;  here  he 
addressed  his  last  letter  to  Christendom,  testifying  that 
he  had  fought  for  the  liberty  of  the  Church ;  here  he  died 
(1085),  saying:  <ll  have  loved  justice  and  hated  iniquity, 
therefor  I  die  in  exile''. 

III.    ST.  GREGORY'S  TRIUMPH  AFTER  DEATH. 

If  Gregory  died  in  the  middle  of  the  struggle,  neither 
his  spirit  nor  his  work  was  dead.  He  lived  again  in 
Urban  II.  (10S8)  and  Calixtus  II.  (1119),  and  the  liberty 
of  the  Church  in  the  choice  of  her  ministers  was  won 
forever.  Henry  continued  to  war  against  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  on  earth  for  a  score  of  years ;  but  his  tyranny 
became  so  unbearable  that  his  own  wife  and  sons  took 
part  against  him.  First  his  eldest  son  Conrad  fought  him 
for  eight  years,  and  then  his  second  son  Henry  revolted 
and,  after  many  battles,  finally  captured  and  put  him 
in  prison,  in  1104.  The  Papal  legates  in  a  solemn  assembly 
proclaimed  his  deposition,  and  he  was  obliged  to  abdicate 
and  to  deliver  his  imperial  insignia  to  his  son.  When  he 
died,  the  following  year,  all  Christendom  rejoiced  as  Israel 
did  at  the  death  of  Pharao ;  for  he  had  been  its  plague  for 
fifty  years,  and  had  raised  up  five  antipopes  to  disturb 
the  Church  of  God. 


DEFENSE  OF  CHURCH'S  LIBERTY.  135 

His  son  Henry  V.  did  not  profit  by  Henry's  experience. 
He  renewed  the  warfare  against  the  liberties  of  the  Church ; 
and  even  succeeded  in  capturing  Pope  Pashal  II.  and 
extorting  from  him  the  ecclesiastical  fiefs  with  the  privi- 
lege of  investiture.  But  the  Catholic  world  protested 
against  his  violence,  and  the  concessions  were  retracted. 
Pope  Calixtus  II.,  a  man  of  noble  birth  and  personal 
power,  excommunicated  the  tyrant,  who  was  soon  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  opening  negotiations  with  the  intrepid 
Pontiff.  By  the  Concordat  of  Worms  (1122)  and  the 
ninth  General  Council,  held  at  the  Lateran  in  1123,  the 
lay  investiture  with  ring  and  crozier  was  forever  abolished, 
but  installation  by  the  imperial  sword  was  allowed  after 
the  titulary  had  been  duly  elected  by  the  Church.  The 
following  year  Henry  V.  died,  and  with  him  that  race  of 
traitorous  persecutors  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

St.  Gregory  VII.  found  the  Church  almost  a  slave  and 
made  her  a  queen.  Not  only  the  great  kings  but  even  the 
petty  princes  of  Italy  had  begun  to  treat  the  Bishops, 
even  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  themselves,  as  their  dependents 
and  hirelings.  They  sometimes  thrust  into  the  sanctuary 
men  devoid  of  every  qualification,  steeped  in  vice  and 
degradation,  and  ready  to  obey  their  every  whim.  Gre- 
gory arose  in  the  name  of  God  to  claim  for  the  Church 
the  right  to  select  her  own  ministers :  and  behold !  the  best 
men  enter  the  sanctuary  and  illustrate  it  by  their  virtue 
and  their  science ;  and  the  noblest  princes,  ceasing  to  attack 
their  mother  the  Church,  stand  up  for  her  and  turn  their 
arms  against  the  Mussulman,  the  eternal  enemy  of  Christ. 
The  Church  has  regained  her  normal  place  in  the  world: 
she  is  once  more  most  manifestly  the  Spouse  of  Christ  and 
the  queen  of  the  nations ;  and  for  five  centuries  her  Pontiffs 
are  the  undisputed  masters  of  Christendom. 


CHAPTER  NINETEENTH. 
DEFENSE  OF  POPULAR  LIBERTY. 

You,  brethren,  have  been  called  unto  liberty.     GALATIANS  Y,  13. 

I.    THE  REBUKERS  OF  TYRANNY. 

Popes  had  been  the  protectors  of  the  Italians 
against  the  barbarian  warriors,  who  conquered  their 
land  and  covered  it  with  fortified  castles,  whence  they 
issued  to  prey  upon  the  people.  About  the  year  1000  two 
Emperors  favored  the  emancipation  of  the  Lombard 
cities,  which  soon  adopted  republican  forms  of  government. 
But  the  Hohenstauffen  Emperors  (1138—1256)  wished  to 
establish  a  universal  and  absolute  monarchy,  and  strove 
to  annex  Italy  to  Germany  and  to  subject  them  both  to 
their  own  arbitrary  power.  If  they  were  the  masters  of 
those  two  countries  they  could  control  the  world.  The 
Popes  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  Italians  and 
entered  into  alliance  with  the  German  rivals  of  the  imperial 
family.  The  populists  were  called  Guelphs  from  the  leader 
of  the  German  nobles,  Welf  or  Guelph  of  Altdorff.  The 
imperialists  were  called  Ghibellines,  after  Wayblingen,  the 
first  family  seat  of  the  Hohenstauffen.  Gigantic  wars  were 
waged  to  repel  the  tyrants.  Italy  became  the  classic  land 
of  liberty  and  culture.  More  than  two  hundred  republics 
arose,  where  all  the  arts  and  sciences  flourished  for 
centuries. 

II.     FREDERIC    BARBAROSSA. 

Frederic  I  (1152 — 1190)  was  a  great  prince,  but  he 
was  possessed  with  too  extravagant  an  idea  of  his  own 
prerogatives.  He  could  not  tolerate  the  liberty  of  the 
republics  of  Italy  nor  the  independence  of  the  Bishops  of 
Rome.  In  A.  D.  1158  German  armies  passed  the  Alps  to 


DEFENSE  OF  POPULAR  LIBERTY.  137 

reduce  the  thriving  cities  of  Lombardy.  The  Milanese  had 
-either  destroyed  or  fortified  the  bridges  of  the  Adda,  but 
the  German  cavalry  succeeded  in  crossing  it.  Siege  was 
laid  to  Milan,  and  famine  forced  that  city  to  capitulate. 
The  emperor  agreed  not  to  enter  the  gates ;  but  he  erected 
a  throne  at  a  distance  of  two  leagues,  where  he  effectively 
humiliated  the  proud  republicans.  There  the  Archbishop 
and  the  nobles  were  compelled  to  appear  before  him  bare- 
footed and  bareheaded ;  thither  the  people  had  to  come 
with  ropes  around  their  necks,  and,  all  prostrate  on  the 
ground,  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Then  Frederic 
summoned  a  diet  in  the  plain  of  Roncaglia,  and  had  his 
alleged  imperial  rights  enlarged  on  in  great  detail  by  four 
Doctors  of  the  University  of  Bologna.  Nothing  less  was 
claimed  than  the  same  absolute  power  once  wielded  by 
the  Pagan  Emperors.  This  was  expressed  by  such  adages 
as:  "The  will  of  Caesar  is  law,"  and  "The  good  pleasure 
of  the  prince  has  the  force  of  law."  Thus  the  municipal 
•constitutions  of  the  Lombard  cities  and  the  freedom  of  the 
Papal  states  were  virtually  abolished.  A  podesta  or  judge 
foreign  to  the  town  was  appointed  to  enforce  the  imperial 
laws. 

The  Milanese  flew  to  arms.  Frederic  besieged  them, 
and  again  resolved  to  starve  them  to  death.  Their  crops 
were  mowed  down,  their  vinestocks  cut,  and  their  trees 
felled  or  barked.  They  he'd  out  for  two  years;  but  in 
1162  their  provisions,  already  nearly  exhausted,  were 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  they  were  therefore  compelled  to 
surrender  at  discretion.  Frederic  delayed  their  sentence 
for  a  month.  Then  he  ordered  the  town  completely 
evacuated,  and  had  the  soldiers  of  the  Ghibelline  cities 
level  it  to  the  ground.  The  people  were  distributed  between 
four  villages,  built  at  two  leagues  distance  from  their 
former  city;  but  the  higher  classes  fled  to  the  neighboring 
cities,  and  spread  everywhere  their  love  of  liberty  and  their 
thirst  for  vengeance.  Frederic  had  long  before  attacked 
.  the  Papal  rights  and  had  been  threatened  with  excommuni- 
cation for  so  doing  by  Adrian  IV.  When  Alexander  III 
(1159—1181)  was  elected  to  the  Roman  Pontificate  by 
the  College  of  Cardinals,  three  imperialist  cardinals  pro- 


138  THE  THREE  AGES. 

ceeded  to  elect  an  antipope,  and  Alexander  had  to  flee  to 
France,  where  he  excommunicated  the  schismatical  emperor. 

Frederic's  tyranny  caused  a  general  uprising  in  Italy, 
and  his  exactions  were  so  exorbitant  that  the  taxes 
amounted  to  five-sixths  of  the  revenues.  The  Lombard 
cities  made  secret  leagues  against  him,  and  drove  away 
his  hateful  podestas.  The  despot  was  powerful  enough  to 
reduce  them  all  into  submission,  and  even  to  capture  Rome. 
But  there  God's  vengeance  awaited  him;  for  the  fever  of 
the  Roman  marshes  carried  off  the  flower  of  the  German 
nobility. 

Fifteen  Lombard  cities  now  bound  themselves  by  a 
solemn  treaty  to  unite  in  resisting  the  imperial  aggressions 
and  upholding  the  Pope;  and  even  all  the  Ghibelline  cities 
joined  them,  except  Pavia.  Their  first  step  was  to  rebuild 
Milan;  which  arose  from  her  ashes  as  an  aggressive  and 
uncompromising  republic.  Their  second  step  was  to  build 
a  new  city  to  check  Pavia,  and  they  gave  it  the  name  of 
Alexandria,  in  compliment  to  the  liberty -loving  Pope  (1168). 

Frederic  I.  prepared  to  take  a  signal  revenge.  In  1174 
he  burned  Suzes  and  encamped  before  Alexandria.  But  he 
was  driven  off  by  the  Italian  patriots,  and  abandoned  by 
the  German  Guelphs.  Beaten  at  Legnano,  he  escaped  from 
the  field  alone  and  disguised,  with  little  hope  of  raising  a 
fresh  arnry,  and  he  was  reduced  to  sue  for  peace.  He 
solemnly  recognized  the  rights  of  the  Popes  and  of  the 
people,  and  he  faithfully  respected  them  till  the  end  of  his 
days.  For  two  centuries  the  cities  of  northern  Italy 
flourished  as  republics  under  the  protection  of  the  German 
Emperors  and  the  guidance  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs. 

III.    FREDERIC  II. 

Barbarossa's  eldest  son,  Henry  VI.,  married  Con- 
stantia,  the  heiress  of  Naples  or  the  two  Sicilies.  He  was 
a  tyrant  and  died  young.  Pope  Innocent  III.  protected 
his  widow  and  his  infant  child  Frederic,  and,  upon  the 
promise  of  separating  Italy  from  Germany  and  of  under- 
taking a  crusade,  obtained  for  the  latter  the  election  to 
the  German  Empire.  But  Frederic  II.  (1224—1250)  proved 
to  be  an  ungrateful  man  and  a  refined  hypocrite:  he  was. 


DEFENSE  OF  POPULAR  LIBERTY.  139 

a  tyrant,  an  infidel  and  a  libertine,  and  he  sacrificed 
everything  to  the  Hohenstauffen  idea  of  universal  and 
absolute  domination.  He  deceived  Pope  Honorius  III., 
but  he  was  unmasked  by  Gregory  IX.  and  put  down  by 
Innocent  IV.  Under  various  pretexts  Frederic  put  off  the 
Crusade,  although  Damietta  was  besieged  and  captured 
by  the  Mohammedans.  Far  from  punishing  the  infidel 
Saracens  who  had  devastated  Italy,  he  selected  20,000  of 
them  for  his  guard.  Meanwhile  he  strengthened  the  in- 
fluence of  his  family  in  Italy  and  in  Germany,  where  his 
eldest  son  Henry  was  selected  as  his  successor.  Milan 
flung  to  the  breeze  her  carrocc/o,  or  war-standard,  and 
fifteen  cities  pledged  themselves  again  to  the  Lombard 
confederation.  It  was  only  after  many  halts,  and  after 
an  excommunication  by  the  aged  but  energetic  Pope  Gre- 
gory IX.,  that  Frederic  went  on  the  crusade  to  the  Holy 
Land  to  which  he  had  pledged  himself.  But  he  shamefully 
compromised  with  the  enemy,  as  if  he  had  been  a  Mussul- 
man himself.  Meanwhile  he  had  all  the  old  Pagan  laws 
of  Sicily  collected  by  his  chancellor  Peter  de  Vineis,  in  order 
to  justify  the  re-establishing  of  the  absolute  Caesarism  of 
the  Roman  Emperors,  upon  the  ruin  of  the  Christian  con- 
stitutions. To  these  dangerous  pretensions  the  Pope  con- 
tented himself  with  opposing  the  Five  Books  of  the 
Decretals  compiled  by  St.  Raymond  de  Pennafort.  When 
Frederic's  eldest  son  and  successor-elect  revolted,  Pope 
Gregory  showed  his  magnanimity  by  writing  to  the  German 
princes  to  assist  in  putting  him  down.  As  a  result,  the 
rebel-prince  was  conquered,  and  the  right  of  succession  was 
transferred  to  his  brother  Conrad. 

Frederic  put  at  the  head  of  the  Ghibelline  faction  Ecce- 
lino  the  Fierce,  a  man  without  virtue,  pity  or  remorse; 
he  granted  him  a  bodyguard  of  Germans  and  Saracens, 
and  gave  him  his  natural  daughter  in  marriage.  He 
invested  his  natural  son  Enzio  with  Sardinia,  a  fief  of  the 
Holy  See.  The  undaunted  Gregory  IX  excommunicated  the 
aggressive  Emperor,  proclaimed  a  crusade,  and  summoned 
a  General  Council.  Frederic  besieged  Rome,  whence  he  was 
driven  away  by  the  crusaders.  Enzio  in  the  meantime 
killed  a  hundred  of  the  Bishops  coming  to  the  Council. 


140  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  news  of  this  outrage  gave  such  a  terrible  schock 
to  the  nonagenarien  Pontiff  that  he  died  shortly  after. 
For  seventeen  months  the  cardinals  were  unable  to  choose 
a  successor.  Finally  Innocent  IV  was  elected,  and  he  com- 
menced negotiations  with  Frederic,  who  tried  to  surprise 
and  capture  him.  But  he  fled  to  Genoa  and  thence  to 
Lyons,  where  he  convoked  the  thirteenth  General  Council, 
which  deposed  the  faithless  Emperor  in  1245.  On  hearing 
of  his  sentence,  Frederic  II  put  on  his  crown,  exclaiming: 
"Torrents  of  blood  shall  flow  ere  it  fall  from  my  head." 
In  vain  did  he  appeal  to  the  Ghibellines  of  Italy  and  to 
the  princes  of  Europe;  he  was  abandoned.  Defeated  by 
the  Guelphs  at  Parma,  and  left  alone,  he  was  forced  to 
retire  to  a  small  town  of  southern  Italy,  whence  he  sent 
to  offer  reparation.  In  the  midst  of  his  trouble  he  was 
overtaken  with  sicknes,  and  he  died  over  whelmed  with 
grief  and  humiliation.  His  sole  surviving  legitimate  son, 
Conrad  IV  was  driven  from  Germany  by  William  of  Hol- 
land, and  retired  to  Italy,  where  he  had  to  wrest  his  king- 
dom of  Sicily  from  his  natural  brother  Manfred.  But  he 
died  in  his  youth  and  Manfred  again  seized  the  reins  of 
power  in  Naples.  The  Pope,  who  was  the  suzerain,  there- 
upon called  in  Charles  of  Anjou,  who  conquered  the  usurper. 
The  new  king  showed  great  cruelty  towards  the  friends  of 
the  old  dynasty,  and  Conradin,  Conrad's  son,  was  sum- 
moned from  Germany,  but  he  was  defeated  and  beheaded 
at  Naples. 

Thus  perished  the  Hohenstauffen  dynasty,  which  had 
threatened  to  enslave  Church  and  State  alike.  Thus  perish 
all  the  persecutors  of  the  people  of  God ! 

IV.    THE  POPES  THE  FRIENDS  OF  REPUBLICS. 

Ignorant  people  alone  accuse  the  Roman  Pontiffs  of 
being  the  enemies  of  liberty.  It  was  under  the  vigilant  eye 
and  fostering  care  of  the  Popes  that  the  first  republics 
which  afforded  true  liberty  for  all  were  established  and 
flourished,  and  that  northern  Italy  became  the  land  of 
freedom  and  equality,  as  the  republics  of  ancient  Greece 
never  were  even  in  their  most  halcyon  days.  It  was  by 
their  assistance  that  these  republics  were  defended  against 


DEFENSE  OF  POPULAR  LIBERTY.  141 

the  encroachment  of  ambitious  neigbors,  and  that  many 
preserved  their  independence  until  the  Protestant  Revolt 
deprived  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  of  much  of  their  political 
influence.  The  Republic  of  Venice  subsisted  from  457  to 
1797,  and  for  centuries  was  the  metropolis  of  commerce 
in  the  southern  world. 

There  never  has  been  a  period  in  all  history,  when 
independent  republics  were  so  numerous  as  they  were  when 
the  temporal  ascendancy  of  the  Papacy  was  at  its  height ; 
and  nearly  all  of  the  republics  of  the  present  day  are  in 
Catholic  lands,  while  almost  all  lands  with  a  separatist 
majority,  whether  Pagan,  Mohammedan,  Protestant  or 
Schismatic,  have  monarchical  governments. 

Our  own  young  American  republic  gained  her  autonomy 
chiefly  by  the  aid  of  Catholic  allies,  and  her  most  devoted 
citizens  adhere  to  the  faith  and  fellowship  of  the  Universal 
Church.  May  she  live  longer  than  the  oldest  of  the  Italian 
republics !  May  she  stand,  like  the  Church  of  God,  till  the 
end  of  the  ages ! 


CHAPTER  TWENTIETH. 
THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMONWEALTH. 

That  you  may  know  .  .  .  what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of 
His  power  toward  us  ....  which  He  wrought  in  Christ,  raising 
Him  from  the  dead,  and  setting  Him  on  His  right  hand  in  the 
heavenly  places ;  above  all  principality  and  power  and  virtue 
and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this 
world,  but  also  in  that,  which  is  to  come.  And  He  hath  sub- 
jected all  things  under  His  feet ;  and  hath  made  Him  head  over 
all  the  Church,  which  is  His  Body,  and  the  fullness  of  Him  Who 
is  filled  all  in  all.  EPHESIANS  i,  19 — 23. 

I.     A  PONTIFF-PRESIDENT. 

THE  nations  of  Europe  were  Christian  to  the  marrow 
of  their  bones.  Their  first  object  was  eternal  salvation ; 
their  greatest  treasures  were  faith  and  virtue,  which  they 
promoted  by  their  laws  and  defended  by  their  arms.  They 
formed  a  Christian  commonwealth  under  the  presidenc}r 
or  leadership  of  the  Popes.  A  president  of  a  republic  has 
to  maintain  the  constitution,  to  enforce  the  laws  and  to 
repel  the  enemy.  The  Roman  Pontiffs  performed  these  duties 
with  more  zeal  and  success  than  any  other  line  of  rulers. 
No  Pope  was  more  really  the  President  of  the  Catholic 
world  than  Innocent  III ;  none  was  more  powerful  and 
respected,  and  few  did  more  good.  Innocent  was  a  born 
leader:  he  belonged  to  the  great  family  of  the  Conti,  which 
gave  four  distinguished  Popes  to  the  Church.  He  studied 
theology  and  law  at  the  famous  universities  of  Paris  and 
Bologna.  Elected  Pope  at  the  age  of  thirty  seven,  he 
entreated  the  cardinals  not  to  compromise  that  august 
dignity  by  placing  it  in  his  young  and  inexperienced  hands. 
Seated  on  the  throne  of  Peter,  he  gathered  around  himself 
the  wisest  men  of  the  age,  and  examined  personally  and 
attentively  every  question  that  came  before  him,  and  thus 
won  universal  confidence  for  his  administration.  For  half 
a  century  the  Roman  citizens  and  the  German  emperors 
had  striven  to  lower  the  Papal  power;  the  former  to 


THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMONWEALTH.  143 

restore  their  ancient  republic,  the  latter  to  establish  an 
absolute  power  in  Europe.  By  his  magnaminity  Innocent 
won  the  admiration  of  the  Romans  and  dissipated  their 
dreams  of  civic  reorganization.  By  his  diplomatic  skill  he 
became  the  undisputed  leader  of  the  Tuscan  and  Lombard 
cities  and  of  the  two  Sicilies.  Thus  seated  unhampered  on 
the  throne  of  Peter,  Innocent  was  free  to  employ  all  the 
resources  of  his  mastermind  in  promoting  the  general 
interests  of  Christendom. 

II.  THE  ARBITRATOR  OF  NATIONS. 

Innocent  III  was  chosen  as  arbiter  in  almost  all 
national  and  international  questions.  He  granted  royal 
titles  to  the  rulers  of  Armenia,  Bulgaria  and  Bohemia,  he 
settled  the  disputed  successions  of  Hungary,  Poland  and 
Sweden,  and  he  alleviated  the  great  troubles,  which 
afflicted  Italy,  Germany  and  England. 

After  the  death  of  Henry  VI  and  of  his  wife  Constantia 
of  Naples,  Pope  Innocent  III  became  the  tutor  of  their  son 
Frederic  II,  then  three  years  old.  In  Italy  he  protected 
that  prince's  hereditary  kingdom  of  Sicily  against  enemies 
of  all  kinds.  In  Germany  he  favored  the  election  of  the 
Guelph  Otto  IV,  who,  against  all  expectations,  became  a 
despot  and  persecutor,  and  who  therefore  was  in  the  end 
excommunicated  and  abandoned  by  all.  Meanwhile  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  had  reared  his  pupil  with  the  greatest 
care,  and  now  he  secured  for  him  the  election  to  the  Empire. 
Nothwithstanding  that  Frederic  owed  everything  to  Pope 
Innocent  III,  he  turned  against  his  benefactor  and  against 
the  Christian  people,  and  within  half  a  century  his  dynasty 

(was  extinguished,  as  described  in  the  foregoing  chapter. 
In  England  John  Lackland  murdered  his  nephews  with 
his  own  hands  and  usurped  their  throne.  Beaten  by  Philip 
Augustus  of  France,  he  had  recourse  to  the  Pope,  who 
obtained  for  him  a  truce  of  five  years.  But  this  ungrateful 
prince  likewise  turned  against  his  benefactor.  He  refused 
to  admit  to  the  See  of  Canterbury  Stephen  Langton,  an 
Englishman  who  had  been  canonically  elected  by  the  metro- 
politan chapter  and  officially  confirmed  by  the  Holy  See. 
After  vain  and  long  negotiations,  the  Pope  laid  England 


144  THE  THREE  AGES. 

under  interdict,  and  sent  Geoffrey  to  promulgate  the 
Pontifical  degree.  By  order  of  the  king  the  intrepid  herald 
was  covered  with  a  ponderous  cope  of  lead,  and  left  with- 
out food  or  assistance  until  he  expired.  Moreover,  John 
made  alliance  with  the  Socialist  Albigenses,  and  with  the 
king  of  Morocco,  promising  the  latter  to  become  a  Moham- 
medan. Then  Innocent  III  deposed  him  from  the  throne 
he  so  dishonored,  absolving  his  subjects  and  his  vassals 
from  their  oaths  of  allegiance.  Philip  Augustus  undertook 
the  execution  of  the  sentence,  and  John,  whose  subjects 
were  not  willing  to  be  partakers  in  his  iniquities,  had  to 
submit.  He  recognized  Langton  as  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, promised  to  repair  the  evil  he  had  done  in  other  par- 
ticulars, and  even  -went  so  far  as  to  declare  himself  a  vassal 
of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  in  order  to  secure  their  protection 
against  the  enemies  whom  his  crimes  had  raised  up  against 
him,  outside  of  England  as  well  as  within  its  borders. 

Langton  became  the  leading  spirit  of  the  league  for  the 
restoration  of  the  ancient  English  rights  which  had  been 
curtailed  by  the  Norman  kings.  The  barons  assembled, 
under  the  name  of  "the  army  of  God  and  of  His  Church", 
and  were  ready  to  enter  London  by  force  of  arms.  John 
was  driven  from  his  capital,  and  soon  came  to  terms, 
signing  the  Great  Charter  of  English  liberties,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Primate  and  the  nobles,  on  an  island  of  the  Thames 
called  Runnymede.  According  to  this  constitution  the  king 
was  to  levy  no  taxes  without  the  consent  of  the  great 
national  council;  no  freeman  could  be  arrested,  outlawed 
or  executed  save  by  the  sentence  of  his  peers,  and  the 
liberties  of  the  English  Church  were  to  be  respected  by  the 
Crown.  The  faithless  king  violated  his  promises;  where- 
upon the  barons  flew  to  arms,  and  offered  the  crown  to 
Louis,  the  Dauphin  of  France,  who  entered  London  in 
triumph.  John  Lackland  died  soon  after  his  disaster,  truly 
a  king  "without  land." 

III.     THE  ENFORCER  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LAW. 

Innocent  III  was  a  vigilant  pastor  in  promoting  virtue 
and  removing  scandals.  In  the  famous  twelfth  Ecumenical 
Council,  held  at  the  Lateran  in  1313,  he  reduced  the 


THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMONWEALTH.  145 

number  of  obligatory  communions,  but  he  enforced  the 
annual  reception  of  the  sacraments  by  every  Christian, 
under  pain  of  mortal  sin  and  ecclesiastical  censure.  He 
approved  and  favored  the  mendicant  orders  of  St.  Francis 
and  St.  Dominic,  who  by  their  virtue  and  their  preaching 
exerted  a  most  salutary  influence  upon  the  whole  Church. 
He  attacked  vice  and  scandals  everywhere,  and  put  an  end 
to  the  adulteries  that  defiled  the  thrones  of  France  and 
Leon. 

The  king  of  France,  Philip  Augustus,  had  married  the 
Danish  princess  Ingelberga,  from  political  motives.  Soon 
he  felt  an  uncontrollable  aversion  for  his  wife,  and,  under 
pretext  of  relationship,  he  had  his  marriage  annulled  by  a 
council  of  venal  bishops.  Ignorant  even  of  the  language 
of  the  judges,  the  wretched  queen  was  utterly  defenceless, 
and  when  the  sentence  was  translated  to  her  she  cried  in 
a  mournful  tone:  "Rome!  Rome!"  She  refused  to  return 
to  Denmark,  and  was  relegated  to  the  convent  of  Beau- 
rep  aire. 

Philip  at  once  pretended  to  espouse  Agnes  of  Merania, 
the  object  of  his  criminal  passion.  Innocent  III  knew  no 
hesitation  in  the  path  of  duty.  He  sent  a  legate  to  France 
with  orders  to  bring  Philip  to  conform  to  the  law  of  God, 
or  else  to  cast  an  interdict  upon  his  realm.  A  Council 
was  convened  at  Dijon,  to  which  the  king  was  summoned, 
but  where  he  refused  to  appear.  The  Papal  legate  pro- 
nounced "the  ecclesiastical  interdict  upon  all  the  provinces 
subject  to  the  king  of  France,  so  long  as  that  king  refused 
to  break  off  his  adulterous  commerce  with  Agnes  of 
Merania."  This  interdict  threw  a  veil  of  mourning  over 
the  whole  of  France.  The  churches  were  closed  and  the 
Divine  offices  suspended.  Philip's  attendants  shunned  his 
presence  and  fled  from  him  as  from  the  enemy  of  God  and 
man.  In  vain  did  he  exile  Bishops  and  threaten  the  general 
body  of  the  clergy,  in  vain  did  he  entreat  the  Pope  to 
alter  the  sentence,  in  vain  did  he  try  to  touch  the  nobles 
by  his  misery.  Bringing  his  abashed  and  troubled  Agnes 
into  their  presence,  he  asked  them:  "What  shall  I  do?" 
"Obey  the  Pope,"  they  cried;  "Put  away  Lady  Agnes  and 
restore  Queen  Ingelberga."  The  king  yielded;  Agnes  was 

10 


146  THE  THREE  AGES. 

sent  away,  and  died  soon  after ;  and  Ingelberga  reascended 
the  throne.  In  thus  conquering  himself,  Philip  appeared 
even  greater  than  in  conquering  his  enemies  at  the  glorious 
battle  of  Bouvines. 

It  is  the  eternal  glory  of  the  Catholic  Church  to  have 
rebuked  the  adultery  of  the  most  powerful  kings,  especially 
in  face  of  the  degrading  polygamy  of  Mohammedanism. 
That  same  unbending  policy,  in  cases  where  the  immutable 
law  of  God  is  at  stake,  the  Church  followed  against  the 
crowned  libertine  of  England,  in  the  very  teeth  of  threaten- 
ing Protestantism.  What  a  pity  for  Henry's  six  wives 
and  victims  that  the  Popes  had  lost  control  of  Christian 
Europe!  The  Catholic  Church  was  always  the  first  and 
best  defender  of  woman's  most  precious  rights. 

IV.     THE  DEFENDER  OF  CHRISTENDOM. 

The  communistic  Albigenses,  a  sect  sprung  out  of  the 
Manichean  stock,  were  undermining  Christian  society  by 
their  immoral  teachings  and  practices,  their  attacks  upon 
all  the  institutions  of  religion  and  civilization,  their  lawless 
destruction  of  property  and  their  cruel  slaughter  of  priests, 
religious  and  faithful  people  in  the  regions  in  which  they 
ran  riot.  The  Mohammedans,  also,  were  still  warring  to 
wipe  Christianity  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  In  the  twelfth 
Ecumenical  Council  Innocent  III  condemned  the  fatal 
heresy  of  the  Albigenses,  as  well  as  the  errors  of  several 
other  kinds  of  sectaries,  and  proclaimed  a  Holy  War 
throughout  all  Christendom.  Not  less  than  five  Crusades 
were  inaugurated  under  his  impulse:  The  war  against  the 
foul  and  savage  Albigenses,  the  league  of  the  Spaniards 
against  the  Moors  which  crushed  the  Mohammedan 
power  in  Spain  at  the  battle  of  Tolosa,  and  three  crusades 
to  the  East.  The  Fourth  Crusade  was  deviated  to  Con- 
stantinople, through  the  wiles  of  the  unscrupulous  doge 
Dandolo,  where  it  erected  a  Latin  empire.  Innocent  dis- 
approved of  that  course,  and  moved  heaven  and  earth  to 
form  a  new  crusade  against  the  Turks.  He  created  such 
an  enthusiasm  that  50,000  children  arose,  without 
authority,  and,  full  of  ardor,  but  disregarding  the  dictates 
of  the  most  common  prudence,  went  towards  the  Holy 


THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMONWEALTH.  147 

Land,  perishing  miserably  on  the  road.  A  result  more  in 
accordance  with  his  wish  was  the  Fifth  Crusade,  under- 
taken soon  after  his  death,  under  Andrew  II  of  Hungary. 
Two  great  military  orders  were  organized  under  his 
Pontificate :  the  Teutonic  Order  for  the  defence  and  spread 
of  Christianity,  and  the  Order  of  the  Trinity  for  the 
redemption  of  the  captives  who  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  Mohammedan  pirates  and  brigands. 

V.    THE  IDEAL  COURT  OF  ARBITRATION. 

Ignorant  and  prejudiced  people  attack  the  political 
power  of  the  Popes  during  the  Middle  Ages  as  usurpation 
and  despotism.  But  it  was  the  most  legitimate  and  the 
most  beneficent  power  that  ever  existed.  It  was  founded 
on  the  general  consent  of  the  Christian  world,  and  it 
formed  an  ideal  court  of  arbitration  during  the  growth 
of  the  modern  nations  out  of  the  tumultuous  half-civilized 
tribes.  The  Papal  Curia  was  the  supreme  judicial  court 
of  Europe;  in  its  decisions  peoples  and  kings,  abbots  and 
bishops,  laity  and  clergy,  sought  that  justice  which  could 
not  be  found  elsewhere.  The  Popes  were  like  angels  of 
peace  amid  the  warlike  nations,  and  prevented  thousands 
of  bloody  conflicts.  Think  of  how  many  wars  the  American 
Indians  would  have  avoided  if  they  had  been  Christians, 
and  under  the  Pope's  influence!  In  our  own  times  the 
great  statesman  Bismarck  chose  the  Pope  as  arbiter  in 
his  dispute  with  Spain  about  the  Caroline  islands.  Modern 
philanthropists  are  laboring  to  bring  about  the  establish- 
ment of  an  international  court  of  arbitration,  to  put  an 
end  to  the  barbarous  practice  of  war.  Since  the  breaking 
up  of  the  unity  of  Christendom  by  Protestantism  there 
has  never  been  found  any  court  or  commission  which 
could  wield  the  influence  once  possessed  by  the  incorrupt- 
ible court  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome.  It  would  be  an  immense 
step  toward  the  abolition  of  war  to  once  more  recognize 
the  Pope  as  the  international  arbitrator  of  the  Christian 
nations,  and  even  of  all  the  nations  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 


CHAPTER  TWENTYFIRST. 
DECLINE  OF  TEMPORAL  SUPREMACY. 

And  the  Lord  said  to  Moses :  Behold  I  have  appointed  thee 
to  be  the  god  of  Pharao  .  .  .  Thon  shalt  speak  to  him  all  that  1 
command  thee  .  .  .  that  he  let  the  children  of  Israel  go  out  of  his 
land.  EXODUS  vn,  1 — 2. 

And  the  Lord  hardened  the  heart  of  Pharao  the  king  of 
Egypt  and  he  pursued  the  childern  of  Israel,  but  they  were  gone 
forth  in  ci  mighty  hand.  EXODUS  xiv,  8. 

I.    CUNNING  OF  PHILIP  THE  FAIR. 

TN  vain  had  the  two  great  Frederics  of  Germairy  attacked 
the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs ;  in  vain  had  they 
striven  to  reduce  them  under  their  own  control.  But  what 
the  immense  power  of  the  Empire  had  failed  to  accomplish, 
the  crafty  policy  of  Philip  the  Fair  of  France  (1285—1315) 
successfully  achieved.  He  brought  the  Popes  into  a  com- 
parative y  dependent  condition  at  Avignon;  and  thus 
rendered  their  temporal  sway  over  the  Christian  nations 
impossible,  and  even  jeopardized  their  spiritual  supremacy. 
He  thus  wished  to  control  the  Christian  world;  but  he 
signally  failed  in  this  scheme.  His  dynasty  did  not  dictate 
to  many  Popes,  and  it  was  soon  extinguished.  Moreover, 
the  French  Popes  were  not  the  docile  tools  of  the  king, 
as  he  intended  to  make  them,  but  true  pastors,  full  of  zeal 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Christian  world. 

The  intrepid  Boniface  VIII  resisted  the  designs  of  Philip 
the  Fair,  but  the  feeble  Clement  VII  fell  into  his  snares. 

II.     RESISTANCE  OF  BONIFACE  VIII. 

Boniface  VIII  (1294—1303)  was  a  worthy  relative  of 
Innocent  III  and,  like  him,  a  great  statesman.  Endowed 
with  extraordinary  talents,  skilled  in  canon  and  civil  law, 
and  gifted  with  an  iron  will,  he  was  the  Providential 
champion  of  the  Church  against  her  most  dangerous  enemy. 


DECLINE  OF  TEMPORAL  SUPREMACY.  149 

The  whole  world  was  in  turmoil,  but  he  pacified  it.  He 
immediately  rescued  Rome  from  the  control  of  the  haughty 
nobles.  Obliged  to  interfere  in  the  family  troubles  of  the 
Colonnas,  he  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  two  Cardinals  of 
that  name.  War  was  raging  between  Spain  and  Naples 
for  the  possession  of  Sicily.  Boniface  generously  offered 
the  Papal  fiefs  of  Corsica  and  Sardinia  to  the  Spanish 
sovereign,  that  he  might  grant  Sicily  to  the  French  dynasty 
of  Naples. 

In  the  war  between  Philip  the  F'air  of  France  and 
Edward  I  of  England,  those  kings  were  taxing  the  churches 
to  pay  their  military  expenses.  Boniface  threatened  ex- 
communication, and  thus  compelled  them  to  conclude  a 
truce.  Philip  resented  this  intervention.  He  was  a  Machi- 
avelian  politician,  bent  on  raising  an  absolute  monarchy 
upon  the  ruins  of  the  feudal  system  and  of  the  Papal 
power;  and  he  trampled  indiscriminately  upon  all  rights, 
human  and  divine,  debasing  the  coin  and  despoiling  the 
Church  He  sent  to  Rome  the  insolent  Peter  Flotte.  The 
Pope  revoked  the  so-called  Gallican  privileges,  which, 
though  referred  to  by  their  defenders  as  "liberties  of  the 
French  Church",  were,  in  point  of  fact,  instruments  for  its 
enslavement  to  the  Crown.  In  the  Bull  Ausculta  Domine 
he  enumerated  many  acts  of  injustice,  violence  and  rapacity 
committed  by  the  king,  and  convoked  the  Bishops  to  a 
Council  at  Rome.  Philip  publicly  burned  the  Bull,  and  his 
wicked  minister  circulated  a  spurious  document  in  which 
the  Pope  was  made  to  claim  France  as  a  fief  of  the  Holy 
See.  The  Three  Estates  of  the  kingdom  were  convoked 
and  called  upon  to  maintain  their  ancient  independence, 
and  they  swore  to  do  so  at  the  cost  of  their  lives.  Not- 
withstanding the  threats  of  the  king  fortyfive  prelates 
went  to  Rome.  The  Supreme  Pontiff  had  prepared,  and 
the  Council  discussed  and  adopted,  the  famous  Bull  Unam 
Sanctam,  which  was  mostly  extracted  from  French  writers, 
and  simply  placed  on  solemn  record  the  public  right  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  He  stated  that  there  are  two  swords  or 
powers,  a  temporal  and  a  spiritual,  the  latter  being  the 
superior.  When  the  temporal  power  deviates  from  the 
right  way,  it  is  to  be  judged  by  the  spiritual  power. 

I 


150  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Meanwhile  the  Flemings  revolted  against  the  debased  coin 
circulated  by  Philip,  and  his  manifold  acts  of  tyranny,  and 
slew  the  flower  of  his  nobility  at  the  battle  of  Courtray. 
Philip  maintained  his  defiant  attitude,  arrested  the  bearer 
of  the  Bull,  accused  the  Pope  of  all  sorts  of  crimes,  and, 
as  all  schismatics  do,  appealed  from  the  Pope  to  an 
Ecumenical  Council.  Immediately  Boniface  issued  five  Bulls 
referring  to  his  contest  with  Philip,  and  was  preparing  to 
excommunicate  him  when  he  was  prevented  from  doing 
so  by  a  brutal  attack  upon  his  sacred  person.  William 
de  Nogaret  and  Sciara  Colonna,  with  bands  of  warriors, 
forced  the  doors  of  the  palace  of  Agnani,  the  Pope's  birth- 
place and  temporary  place  of  residence,  crying:  "Death  to 
Boniface!  Long  life  to  Philipp!"  ''Open  the  doors  of  my 
apartments,"  said  the  Pope  to  those  who  surrounded  him: 
"I  shall  know  how  to  die  for  the  Church  of  God."  Robed 
in  his  Pontifical  vestments,  with  the  cross  in  one  hand 
and  the  keys  of  Peter  in  the  other,  he  seated  himself  upon 
the  Apostolic  throne,  calmly  awaiting  the  approach  of  his 
enemies.  Nogaret  threatened  to  put  him  in  fetters,  and  to 
send  him  to  the  Council  of  Vienne,  where  he  would  be 
deposed.  Meanwhile  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  was  cast  into 
prison  and  his  palace  plundered.  The  third  day  the  people 
rescued  him  and  restored  him  to  his  throne,  but  he  died 
from  the  effects  of  the  brutal  treatment  he  had  received. 
He  would  have  succeeded,  like  his  predecessors,  in  defend- 
ing and  maintaining  the  public  rights  of  the  Christian 
Commonwealth  during  the  Middle  Ages,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  cunning  of  Philip,  and  the  reaction  which  was 
taking  place  in  Europe  against  the  temporal  supremacy  of 
the  Popes ;  a  reaction  due  in  part  to  the  spirit  of  worldli- 
ness  resulting  from  Mohammedan  and  Jewish  influence,  and 
in  part  to  the  renewed  study  of  the  Justinian  code,  or  legal 
system  of  the  ancient  Roman  Empire,  which  proclaims  the 
Divine  rights  of  kings  and  their  irresponsible  autocrac}'. 

III.    CONCESSIONS  OF  CLEMENT  V. 

Philip  the  'Fair  succeeded  in  creating  a  French  party 
among  the  Cardinals,  which  brought  about  the  election 
of  Bertrand  de  Got,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux.  The  new 


DECLINE  OF  TEMPORAL  SUPREMACY.  151 

Pontiff,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement  V  (1305—1316), 
was  crowned  at  Lyons,  and  remained  in  France,  notwith- 
standing the  protestations  of  the  Sacred  College;  and 
thus  inaugurated  the  seventy  years'  exile  of  the  Popes  at 
Avignon  (1309—1378).  His  reign  was  a  series  of  blunders 
and  concessions.  He  absolved  those  who  had  conspired 
against  Boniface  VIII,  and  even  consented  to  listen  to 
their  absurd  charges  against  their  august  victim.  He 
granted  to  Philip  the  tithes  of  all  the  churches  in  his 
kingdom  for  five  years,  and  he  himself  levied  heavy  contri- 
butions. He  consented  to  the  suppression  of  the  Knights 
Templar,  which  was  contrived  by  Philip  the  Fair  and 
solemnly  decreed  at  the  fifteenth  General  Council,  that  of 
Vienne  (1311 — 1312).  It  is  true  he  declared  this  measure 
to  be  a  matter  of  expediency  rather  than  of  condemnation, 
and  he  reserved  the  disposition  of  the  Templars  to  himself. 
But  the  cruel  Philip  burned  to  death  fiftynine  members  of 
the  Order,  and  appropriated  to  himself  the  best  of  their 
possessions  within  his  domains.  However,  Clement's 
greatest  mistake  was  to  abandon  Rome  and  retire  to  the 
obscure  town  of  Avignon.  Every  Bishop  is  expected  to 
reside  within  the  limits  of  his  own  see.  Furthermore,  in 
Rome  Providence  had  provided  for  the  Vicar  of  Christ  a 
temporal  dominion  large  enough  to  secure  prestige,  inde- 
pendence and  maintenance,  and  yet  too  small  to  inspire 
fear  in  the  minds  of  the  secular  princes.  But  Clement  V 
gave  up  all  these  advantages.  He  virtually  renounced  his 
temporal  supremacy,  and  even  jeopardized  his  spiritual 
supremacy.  Retiring  to  that  obscure  provincial  town,  he 
exposed  himself  to  the  influence  of  the  kings  of  France,  or 
at  least  to  the  suspicion  of  such  an  influence,  incurred  the 
distrust  of  the  other  kings,  and  lost  the  control  of  the 
nations.  This  appeared  clearly  in  the  ensuing  troubles  with 
Louis  the  Bavarian,  Emperor  of  Germany  (1313 — 1347); 
a  settlement  was  impossible  because  it  was  against  the 
interest  of  the  king  of  France.  But  the  final  result  of  the 
residence  of  the  Popes  at  Avignon  was  that  unfortunate 
period  of  a  disputed  Papal  succession  often  incorrectly 
termed  the  Great  Schism  of  the  West  (1378—1415).  The 
departure  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  from  their  episcopal  city 


152  THE  THREE  AGES. 

shook  the  universal  veneration  in  which  they  had  been 
held,  and  their  final  return  gave  an  opportunity  for 
criminally  ambitious  men,  with  the  countenance  of  the 
French  kings,  to  erect  a  series  of  antipopes  at  Avignon. 
Secondly,  by  abandoning  Rome  Clement  V  lost  the  best 
revenues  of  his  Italian  States,  and  ruined  completely  the 
city  of  the  Popes.  Rome  fell  alternately  into  the  grasp  of 
tyrannical  nobles  and  impractical  demagogues.  Nicholas 
de  Rienzi  (1347—1353)  thought  of  nothing  less  than 
reestablishing  the  glory  of  the  ancient  Roman  republic,  but 
he  made  such  mistakes  that  he  was  murdered  by  the  dis- 
gusted people.  When  Urban  VI  reentered  Rome,  he  found 
everywhere  ruined  dwellings,  scattered  temples,  deserted 
streets,  impassible  roads  and  famine  on  all  sides.  Naturally 
such  lawlessness  contracted  the  income  of  the  Papal  states. 
Heavy  taxes  were  laid  on  all  the  churches,  and  provoked 
loud  complaints  and  universal  dissatisfaction. 

However,  the  Avignon  residence  was  no  Babylonian 
captivity,  as  the  Germans  and  Italians  call  it.  For  it  was 
freely  commenced  by  legitimate  Popes  and  never  degener- 
ated into  practical  slavery.  The  German  Emperors  by 
their  tyranny  and  the  Roman  people  by  their  turbulence 
had  often  rendered  the  residence  of  the  Popes  at  Rome 
impossible.  The  very  predecessor  of  Clement,  Benedict  XI 
(1303 — 1305)  who  was  an  Italian,  could  not  stay  in 
Rome.  How  then  could  a  Frenchman?  The  Roman 
people  did  not  realize  the  Providential  part  assigned  to 
them  in  Christendom.  Often  they  abandoned  or  even 
betrayed  the  Yicar  of  Christ  for  a  Caesar  or  a  demagogue. 
A  Pope  arose  who  said:  "Rome  is  no  longer  in  Rome;  it 
is  altogether  where  I  am." 

The  removal  of  the  Holy  Father  was  a  lesson  and  a 
punishment  to  the  Romans.  On  the  contrary,  Avignon 
was  a  quiet  place,  long  a  free  city,  and  then  a  fief  of  the 
empire.  It  was  only  under  the  influence  of  the  king  of 
France  through  its  proximity  to  his  domains  and  the 
French  sympathies  of  its  people.  He  was  never  able  to 
completely  control  it,  and  in  1348  Pope  Clement  VI  pur- 
chased it  from  Joanna  I  of  Naples,  so  that  the  territorial 
independence  of  the  Papacy  might  be  preserved  inviolate. 


DECLINE  OF  TEMPORAL  SUPREMACY.  153 

Moreover,  the  seven  Popes  of  Avignon  were  zealous  and 
distinguished  men. 

Finally,  the  residence  of  the  Popes  at  Avignon  afforded 
a  new  and  striking  evidence  of  the  protection  of  the 
Church  by  Divine  Providence.  A  hundred-3rears'  war  was 
raging  between  England  and  France,  which  threatened  the 
ver}r  existence  of  the  latter  country  and  prevented  it  from 
undue  interference  with  the  Church.  If  Philip  had  humbled 
the  Papacy,  he  failed  to  secure  to  his  dynasty  the  glory 
and  prosperity  he  dreamed  of.  Twentytwo  years  after  his 
death,  his  line  was  extinguished,  and  the  house  of  Yalois 
ascended  the  throne.  The  kings  of  England  disputed  its 
right  for  more  than  a  century  (1339 — 1454),  and  twice 
France  was  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin.  The  war  con- 
tinued to  rage  to  punish  the  French  who  raised  and  kept 
up  antipopes  at  Avignon.  As  the  Church  was  torn  by  the 
rival  claims  to  the  Chair  of  Peter;  France,  the  primary 
occasion  of  this  great  evil,  was  devastated  by  civil  and 
foreign  war. 

IV.     A  TEMPORARY  EXPEDIENT. 

When  there  was  no  other  check  to  the  violence  of  the 
princes  than  the  Church  of  God,  she  enjoyed  political 
supremacy  among  the  nations.  When,  by  means  of  parlia- 
ments, communes  and  free  cities,  the  third  estate  became 
a  power,  it  furnished  a  new  check  to  the  tyranny  of  the 
princes,  and  the  temporal  supremacy  was  no  longer  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  the  freedom  and  welfare  of  mankind, 
although  it  would  still  have  remained  very  useful.  God 
allowd  it  to  be  suppressed,  to  show  that  the  Church  needs 
only  her  spiritual  power  to  stand  and  to  thrive.  But  the 
exile  of  Avignon  had  given  the  idea  of  national  churches 
independent  of  the  Center  of  Unity,  and  was  the  occasion 
of  experiments  in  this  direction  for  half  a  century,  which 
put  to  a  severe  test  the  spiritual  supremacy.  But  God 
was  watching  over  the  constitution  of  His  Church,  and 
significant  events  showed  the  necessity  of  the  spiritual 
supremacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs.  The  temporal  supre- 
macy fell  because  it  was  accidental  and  human;  the  spiri- 
tual supremacy  stood  because  it  is  essential  and  Divine. 


CHAPTER  TWENTYSECOND. 
PERPETUITY  OF  SPIRITUAL  SUPREMACY. 

Carefully  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace. 
One  Body  and  one  Spirit,  as  you  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your 
calling.  One  Lord,  one  faith  and  one  baptism.  One  God  and 
Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all  and  through  all  and  in  us  all  ... 
that  we  may  in  all  things  grow  up  in  Him  who  is  the  Head, 
even  Christ,  from  Whom  the  \vhole  Body,  being  compactly  and 
fitly  joined  together,  by  what  every  joint  supplieth,  according 
to  the  operation  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  making  increase 
of  the  Body  unto  the  edification  of  itself  in  charity.  EPHESIANS 
IV,  3—16,  15,  16. 

I.     UNITY  OF  OBEDIENCE. 

JESUS  Christ  constituted  Peter  the  head  of  His  Church 
on  earth.  He  promised  him  the  keys,  He  commissioned 
him  to  strengthen  his  brethren  in  the  faith,  and  He  em- 
powered him  to  feed  His  sheep  and  His  lambs.  This  Divine 
commission  was  well-known  and  universally  received. 
Throughout  the  centuries  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Peter,  was  the  recognized  head  of  Christendom. 
But  the  exile  at  Avignon,  and  the  rise  of  two  or  three 
claimants  to  the  Roman  Pontificate,  threatened  to  unsettle 
the  old  veneration  for  the  Apostolic  See.  Some  prelates 
now  invented  the  theory  that  the  college  of  Bishops  is 
superior  to  the  Pope,  and  certain  kings  endeavored  to 
profit  by  this  occasion  to  curtail  the  Papal  power,  which 
has  always  been  an  unwelcome  obstacle  to  the  greed  and 
oppression  of  tyrants.  But  nothing  could  destroy  the 
universal  belief  of  the  Christians  in  the  supremacy  of  the 
Holy  See  over  the  whole  Church.  Accustomed  to  the  serene 
unity  with  which  Our  Lord  endowed  His  Church,  the 
faithful  were  dismayed  and  alarmed  to  hear  of  several 
Popes  at  the  same  time.  A  Council  was  gathered  at  Pisa 
to  put  an  end  to  this  scandal,  but  it  only  increased  it  by 
setting  up  a  third  claimant  to  the  Papacy.  The  Council 

• 


PERPETUITY  OF  SPIRITUAL  SUPREMACY.  155 

at  Constance  settled  the  dispute,  aided  by  Pope  Gregory 
XII,  but  the  anti-council  of  Basle  opened  it  anew  and 
that  in  presence  of  the  unquestioned  and  generous  Pope 
Eugenius  IV. 

In  1439  it  actually  went  to  the  length  of  electing  an 
antipope.  This  proceeding  opened  the  eyes  of  the  Christian 
world,  which  forthwith  met  together  to  solemnly  reaffirm 
the  Apostolic  doctrine  of  the  Papal  supremacy.  The  people 
were  so  alarmed  at  the  evil  consequences  of  the  attempts 
to  minimize  the  prerogatives  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ  that 
they  thenceforth  clung  faithfully  to  the  Popes,  even  when 
they  appeared  to  be  worldly  or  of  doubtful  character. 

II.     DISPUTED  PAPAL  SUCCESSION. 

The  apparent  division  in  the  Church  often  called  the 
Papal  Schism,  or  the  Great  Schism  of  the  West  (1378— 
1415),  was  not  a  real  schism,  as  it  was  neither  permanent 
nor  wilful,  nor  did  it  involve  any  separation  from  the  True 
Church.  All  agreed  that  Christ  established  one  flock,  with 
but  one  head,  the  Bishop  of  Rome;  but  it  was  difficult  to 
determine  who  was  the  lawful  incumbent  of  that  office. 
The  most  sincere  and  the  most  learned  men  of  the  age, 
and  even  saints  now  canonized,  were  divided  in  opinion. 
Every  means  was  resorted  to  put  an  end  to  the  dispute, 
and  finally  a  dangerous  expedient  was  hit  upon,  which 
only  increased  the  discord,  and  in  the  sequel  was  turned 
into  an  assault  on  the  unchangeable  constitution  given  to 
the  Church  by  Christ. 

Seeing  all  the  evils  consequent  on  the  exile  of  the  Popes 
at  Avignon,  the  Romans  demanded  a  Pontiff  who  would 
reside  in  the  capital  city.  Urban  VI  (1378—1389),  Arch- 
bishop of  Bari,  received  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  con- 
clave; but  he  shrank  before  the  burden,  and  accepted  it 
only  on  the  earnest  entreaty  of  the  Cardinals.  He  proved 
to  be  harsh  in  his  manner,  and  severely  proscribed  all 
worldly  pomp  and  display  in  the  Roman  Court.  This  gave 
a  chance  for  Philip  to  work  up  French  interests.  Through 
his  suggestion  the  French  Cardinals  fled,  and,  under  pre- 
text that  the  election  had  not  been  free,  and  was  therefore 


156  THE  THREE  AGES. 

invalid,  they  elected  the  Prince-Bishop  of  Geneva,  who 
took  the  name  of  Clement  VII  (1378—1394),  and  retired 
to  Avignon.  Aided  by  French  diplomacy  he  secured  the 
recognition,  not  only  of  France,  but  also  of  Naples,  Spain 
and  Scotland,  whose  clergy  and  people  for  the  most  part 
believed  him,  in  good  faith,  to  be  the  real  bishop  of  Rome. 
He  was  succeeded  by  the  crafty  Spaniard  Peter  de  Luna, 
tinder  the  name  of  Benedict  XIII  (1394—1424),  who  pro- 
longed the  schism  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  all  the  princes 
of  Europe.  When  this  ambitious  and  obstinate  man  was 
dying,  at  the  age  of  ninety,  in  the  little  village  of  Peniscola 
in  Valencia,  he  had  only  two  cardinals  left,  but  neverthe- 
less he  obliged  them  to  elect  a  successor  to  his  claims, 
who,  however,  soon  reconciled  himself  with  the  Church. 
In  the  meantime  the  line  of  the  true  Vicars  of  Christ  was 
continued  at  Rome.  Gregory  XII  (1406—1414),  the  third 
successor  of  Urban,  was  intent  upon  calling  a  Council,  to 
settle  the  question  as  to  who  was  the  legitimate  Supreme 
Pontiff,  and  for  a  long  time  endeavored  to  induce  the 
Avignon  claimant  Benedict  XIII  to  consent  to  a  con- 
ference. 

The  evils  of  discord  weighed  heavily  upon  the  Church. 
The  uncertainty  of  the  people  and  their  consequent  anxiety 
of  mind,  as  well  as  the  cost  of  keeping  up  two  Papal 
courts,  was  a  terrible  burden.  Each  of  the  claimants 
sought  recognition  by  all  sorts  of  means,  often  with  no 
other  effect  than  to  render  himself  contemptible  in  the  eyes 
of  those  with  whom  he  negotiated.  Each  nominated 
Bishops  and  other  prelates  with  a  view  to  the  strengthen- 
ing of  his  own  cause,  and  levied  heavy  contributions  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  his  administration,  the  French  anti- 
popes  being  particularly  exacting  in  this  respect. 

Various  plans  of  reconciliation  were  developed,  such  as 
resignation,  arbitration,  forcible  deposition  etc.,  but  all  in 
vain.  The  Cardinals  of  the  two  rival  parties  finally  decided 
to  meet  together  in  a  Council  at  Pisa  in  1409.  So  great 
was  the  eagerness  of  all  Christians  for  the  restoration  of 
harmony,  that  all  the  notabilities  of  Church  and  State,  and 
all  the  lights  of  theology  and  canon  law,  came  together. 
The  Council  was  opened  with  extraordinary  solemnity. 


PERPETUITY  OF  SPIRITUAL  SUPREMACY.  157 

Gerson,  the  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Paris,  in  a 
work  on  "The  Deposibility  of  the  Pope  by  the  Church", 
maintained  that  there  were  certain  cases  in  which  the 
Pope  might  be  legally  deposed: 

"When  the  Church  has  no  visible  head,  either  because  he  is  corporally 
or  civilly  dead,  or  because  that  there  remains  no  hope  that  the  faithful 
will  ever  submit  to  him  or  his  successors;  she  may  then  proceed  to  give 
herself  a  new  and  undisputed  head  by  means  of  a  General  Council  con- 
voked by  the  Cardinals,  or  even  by  the  assistance  and  instrumentaHt\>- 
of  some  prince  or  other  Christian." 

The  two  claimants  to  the  Papacy  were  summoned  to 
appear  before  the  Council,  but  they  refused  and  were 
deposed.  The  Cardinals  then  met  in  conclave  and  elected 
Alexander  V;  and  on  his  death,  which  took  place  soon 
after,  they  gave  him  a  successor  in  the  person  of  John  XXIII 
(1410—1415). 

The  two  former  claimants  still  held  out,  so  that  there 
were  now  three  Bishops  who  each  claimed  to  be  the  lawful 
incumbent  of  the  See  of  Rome.  The  very  means  resorted 
to  to  remedy  the  evil  had  increased  it.  Through  the 
exertions  of  the  Emperor  Sigismond,  John  XXIII  was 
induced  to  convoke  another  Council  at  Constance  in  1414. 
This  gathering  was  of  such  vast  importance  that  it 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole  world.  There  came 
to  the  city,  which  had  only  15,000  inhabitants,  no  less 
than  from  100,000  to  150,000  strangers,  of  whom  no  less 
than  18,000  were  in  one  way  or  another  connected  with  the 
Council  John  XXIII,  who  had  presided  at  the  first  sessions 
in  person,  secretly  withdrew  from  the  city  when  he  found 
that  his  private  character  and  history  were  being  inquired 
into,  and  fled  to  SchafFhausen,  to  be  under  the  protection 
of  his  friend  the  Archduke  of  Austria.  Fearing  lest  he 
might  dissolve  the  Council,  Gerson,  the  Chancellor  of  the 
University  of  Paris,  claimed  that  an  Ecumenical  Council 
had  a  right  to  depose  doubtful  Popes,  as  well  as  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  their  claims. 

The  Council  deposed  John  XXIII,  who  thereupon,  in 
accordance  with  a  promise  previously  made,  handed  in  his 
formal  resignation  of  the  Pontificate.  Gregory  XII  on  the 
supposition  that  he  was  the  true  Roman  Pontiff,  as  is 


158  THE  THREE  AGES. 

generally  held,  first  legitimated  the  Council,  because  no 
Council  can  have  a  truly  ecumenical  character  unless  con- 
voked or  at  least  recognized  by  the  Pope  and  then  he 
resigned  also.  Peter  de  Luna,  the  so-called  Benedict  XIII, 
obstinately  refused  to  resign,  even  after  the  Council  had 
formally  rejected  his  claims  and  decreed  his  deposition. 
The  Cardinals,  with  six  deputies  from  each  nation,  now 
elected  to  the  Roman  Pontificate  the  noble  Otho  Colonna, 
who  took  the  name  of  Martin  V  (1417—1431).  The 
Council  had  already  lasted  four  years,  and  notwithstanding 
that  many  abuses  still  remained  to  be  redressed,  it  could 
not  be  protracted  airy  longer. 

Pope  Martin  made  many  important  concessions,  in 
matters  of  administrative  detail,  and  arranged  concordats 
with  various  nations  for  the  accomplishment  of  needed 
reforms. 

III.    THE  OUTCOME. 
1.    Conciliar  Theory  Exploded. 

The  generous  and  indefatigable  Pope  Eugenius  IV 
(1431 — '47,  nephew  of  Gregory  XII)  anxious  to  remedy 
the  countless  ills  occasioned  by  the  depression  of  the  Papal 
prestige,  authorized  the  holding  of  the  Council  of  Basle 
(1431 — '47),  which  had  been  convoked  by  his  predecessor 
Martin  V.  It  was  attended  by  only  a  few  Bishops,  most 
of  whom  were  of  small  mental  calibre  and  seemed  bent, 
not  so  much  on  the  reformation  of  abuses  as  on  interfering 
with  the  liberties  of  the  Apostolic  See.  The  first  session 
was  attended  only  by  Three  bishops  and  fourteen  Abbots, 
the  second  by  only  Fourteen  Bishops. 

It  was  precisely  when,  after  the  most  painful  struggles, 
the  Church  had  finally  found  an  indisputed  head,  that  the 
coterie  of  prelates  who  controlled  the  Council  of  Basle  had 
the  audacity  to  bring  into  question  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  Pope,  which  is  the  most  efficient  instrument  for  the 
reform  of  abuses,  and  which  alone  is  the  Divine  principle 
of  unity  that  keeps  the  Church  together.  After  the  first 
session  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  deemed  it  advisable  to  remove 
the  Council  to  a  place  convenient  for  the  Oriental  sepa- 


PERPETUITY  OF  SPIRITUAL  SUPREMACY.  159 

ratists,  who  wished  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Church,  and 
in  the  meantime  suspended  its  sittings.  The  synod als 
refused  to  obey,  whereupon  he  formally  dissolved  the 
Council.  So  obstinate  were  they,  that  they  proceeded  to 
hold  a  pretended  second  session  in  which  they  proclaimed 
that  the  Pope  had  no  right  to  remove  or  dissolve  the 
Council  without  its  own  consent;  thus  attempting  to 
define  as  a  general  principle,  what  had  been  resorted  to 
at  Constance  as  a  desperate  expedient  to  settle  a  disputed 
Papal  succession.  Impelled  by  the  spirit  of  rebellion  which 
animated  the  governments  they  represented,  they  attempted 
to  hamper  the  liberty  of  the  Papacy  and  even  usurp  some 
of  its  functions.  They  claimed  for  themselves  the  supreme 
direction  and  government  of  the  Church,  and  went  so  far 
as  to  deny  to  the  Pope  part  of  his  revenues  and  appro- 
priate them  to  their  own  use.  The  magnanimous  Pontiff, 
for  the  sake  of  peace  and  harmony,  reconvoked  the  Council, 
and  was  even  so  gracious  as  to  confirm  the  acts  of  its 
lawful  sessions  held  in  the  meantime,  so  far  as  these  were 
consistent  with  the  rights  of  the  Holy  See  and  the  Divine 
Constitution  of  the  Church  and  the  Council  on  its  part 
came  to  itself  long  enough  to  recall  in  the  XVII.  session 
everything  that  had  been  said  against  either  the  person 
of  the  Pope  or  the  dignity  of  his  office. 

Meanwhile  the  Greek  Emperor  was  asking  that  a 
Council  might  be  held  in  Italy,  where  he  could  assist  at 
it,  and  Eugenius  IV,  in  1437,  after  trying  in  vain  to  induce 
the  Baselian  Fathers  to  remove  thither  freely,  decreed  the 
transfer  of  the  Council  to  Ferrara,  whither  the  majority 
of  its  members,  including  the  most  distinguished,  speedily 
repaired. 

Twentyfive  Bishops  and  seventeen  Abbots  remained  at 
Basle  and  held  a  schismatic  council,  which  they  alleged  to 
be  the  true  continuation  of  the  Council  of  Basle.  This 
little  anti-council,  after  giving  the  right  of  suffrage  to  all 
persons  present,  now  declared  the  Pope  suspended;  and  in 
1439  they  presumed  to  choose  in  his  stead  Amadeus  VIII, 
Duke  of  Savoy,  who,  under  the  name  of  Felix  V,  was  the 
last  of  the  antipopes.  These  schimatics  wished  to  make 
of  the  Church  a  federal  republic  with  the  Pope  as  its 


160  THE  THREE  AGES. 

removable  head.  Forgetting  that  Christ  had  charged  Peter 
to  rule  His  Kingdom,  they  proposed  to  commit  the 
administration  of  the  Church  to  General  Councils  held 
every  ten  years.  The  governments  which  encouraged  and 
abetted  them,  especially  France  and  Germany,  desired  to 
make  their  national  Churches  almost  independent  of  Rome, 
so  far  as  administration  was  concerned.  The  Baselians 
had  already  lost  the  respect  of  Europe,  and  had  earned 
the  contempt  of  every  one  by  their  rebellion  and  their 
high-handed  and  presumptuous  measures.  When  they 
elected  an  antipope,  they  lost  the  most  able  of  their 
remaining  defenders.  Felix  himself  withdrew  from  the 
city  under  pretext  of  ill-health,  and  in  1449  he  resigned 
his  claims  and  was  appointed  by  Nicholas  V  an  Apostolic 
Delegate,  the  miserable  remnant  of  the  Baselian  anti- 
council  coming  to  an  end  at  the  same  time  by  the  return 
to  Catholic  Unity  of  the  few  recalcitrants  who  still 
clung  to  it. 

2.    Papal  Authority   Vindicated. 

The  plague  having  broken  out  at  Ferrara  the  Council 
was  transferred  to  Florence  in  1439.  The  theologians 
who  had  at  first  embraced  the  new  theory  of  the  super- 
iority of  the  Councils  to  the  Popes,  such  as  Nicholas  de 
Cusa  and  ^neas  Sylvius,  were  entirely  disabused  by  the 
petty  acts  and  the  unlimited  pretensions  of  the  clique  of 
prelates  who  had  ended  by  organizing  the  anti-council  of 
Basle.  Experience  had  vindicated  the  wisdom  of  Christ  in 
giving  a  monarchical  constition  to  His  Church.  Thus  the 
very  attempt  at  division  served  to  unite  the  West  forever. 
In  the  meantime,  the  dangers  which  threatened  the  Oriental 
separatists  temporarily  weaned  them  from  their  stubborn- 
ness and  pride.  Seeing  themselves  isolated  from  the  family 
of  Christian  nations,  and  threatened  more  and  more  by 
the  Mohammedan  agressions,  they  sought  a  reunion  with 
the  Catholic  Church.  The  Byzantine  Emperor  John  VII 
came  with  the  most  representative  Orthodox  Bishops  of 
the  East,  and  seven  hundred  men  of  great  learning  or 
high  standing.  The  most  prominent  omong  the  Oriental 


PERPETUITY  OF  SPIRITUAL  SUPREMACY.  161 

prelates  were  Joseph,  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
Isidor,  the  zealous  Archbishop  of  Kieff,  Bessarion,  the 
upright  and  scholarly  Archbishop  of  Nicea,  and  Mark  the 
Archbishop  of  Ephesus.  The  first-named  was  found  dead 
at  his  table  with  this  solemn  testimony  at  his  side: 

"I  admit  all  that  the  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  of  Rome 
believes.  I  confess  that  the  Pope  is  the  Pastor  of  Pastors,  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  and  the  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth,  appointed  to  confirm  the  faith 
of  the  Christians." 

His  dying  words  completed  the  conversion  of  any  of 
the  Greek  prelates  who  may  have  still  been  hesitating, 
with  the  exception  of  the  stubborn  Mark  of  Ephesus,  and 
all  defined  and  subscribed  that: 

"the  Roman  Pontiff  is  the  successor  of  Blessed  Peter,  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,  the  true  Vicar  of  Christ,  the  head  of  the  whole  Church,  the 
father  and  teacher  of  all  Christian  nations,  and  that  to  him,  in  Blessed 
Peter,  full  power  has  been  given  by  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  of  feeding, 
ruling  and  governing  the  Universal  Church,  as  is  also  contained  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Ecumenical  Councils  and  in  the  Sacred  Canons." 

The  Fathers  also  agreed  on  the  question  relating  to 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Several  heretical  branches  of  the  Syrian 
Rite  likewise  expressed  their  desire  to  return  to  the  one 
true  faith,  among  them  several  thousands  of  Gregorian 
Armenians  and  Jacobites  (Monophy sites)  of  Syria,  Meso- 
potamia and  Chaldea.  To  favor  these  returns  the  Council 
was  prorogued  until  1445. 

A  part  of  the  lower  clergy  and  people  of  the  Patri- 
archate of  Constantinople  instigated  by  Mark  of  Ephesus 
expressed  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  submission  of  the 
leaders.  It  was  their  last  act  of  hostility  as  a  people;  for 
a  dozen  of  years  later  they  were  conquered  and  enslaved 
by  the  Turks.  The  act  of  reunion,  to  which  the  Patriarch 
and  the  Emperor  adhered  to  the  end,  was  like  the  solemn 
testament  and  testimony  of  the  dying  Greek  Empire,  which 
in  its  last  moments  of  liberty  returned  to  the  fellowship 
of  the  Mother-Church. 

IV.    VISIBLE  PROTECTION  OF  PROVIDENCE. 

From  the  trials  of  the  Papacy  certain  superficial  men 
try  to  deduce  the  conclusion  that  it  is  a  mere  human 

11 


162  THE  THREE  AGES, 

institution.  But  schisms  and  scandals  are  ordeals  which 
make  its  Divine  institution,  its  necessity  and  its  benefits 
only  the  more  manifest.  At  the  very  time  when  the 
natural  course  of  events  threatened  to  divide  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ  and  wreck  the  Bark  of  Peter,  precisely  then  the 
impracticability  of  the  parliamentary  system  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Universal  Church  was  made  strikingly  manifest, 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  was  proclaimed  by  the  whole 
Christian  world,  and  the  unity  of  the  Church  was  estab- 
lished so  firmly  that  it  had  never  since  been  jeopardized 
even  in  appearance. 

The  loyalty  of  the  Christians  was  soon  put  to  a  severe 
test.  The  public  disputes  over  the  possession  of  the  Papal 
dignity  had  allowed  many  abuses  to  spring  up  in  the 
Church.  During  the  depression  of  the  Apostolic  See  the 
clergy  had  become  more  worldly  and  lawless.  Cardinals 
and  other  prelates  lived  in  princely  style,  and  some  of  the 
Popes  acted  like  worldly  princes.  Alexander  VI  (1492 — 1503) 
has  been  accused  of  most  heinous  sins,  though  learned 
historians  have  endeavored  to  prove  that  his  conduct  was 
blameless  after  his  elevation  to  the  Chair  of  Peter.  All 
these  causes  tended  to  lower  the  general  esteem  for  the 
Papacy.  Nevertheless,  the  people  clung  to  those  worldly 
Popes,  as  to  the  Vicars  of  Christ,  to  whom  obedience  is 
due,  not  for  their  personal  qualities,  -but  for  their  Divine 
office. 

Moreover,  God  watched  over  His  Vicars  on  earth,  He 
preserved  them,  according  to  His  promises,  from  any 
departure  from  sound  doctrine  in  their  official  utterances, 
and  helped  them,  when  seated  on  the  throne  of  Peter  to 
lead  good  lives,  in  the  midst  of  the  terrible  temptations 
incident  to  the  Renaissance  of  Pagan  traditions  in  the 
field  of  art  and  letters.  The  only  serious  charge  against 
them  in  most  cases  was  that  of  nepotism,  that  is,  the 
advancement  of  nephews  and  other  relations  to  honorable 
and  lucrative  positions.  But  almost  all  rulers  favor  their 
own  families,  and  the  Popes  often  thought  that  they 
needed  to  surround  themselves  with  trusted  relatives  as  a 
protection  against  wily  courtiers  and  secret  foes.  At  all 
events  even  these  Popes  were  still  the  most  virtuous  and 


PERPETUITY  OF  SPIRITUAL  SUPREMACY.  163 

the  most  progressive  rulers  of  their  times.  They  delivered 
Italy  from  the  invading  armies  of  the  French  and  the 
Germans,  and  they  preserved  Europe  from  the  terrible 
yoke  of  the  Mussulmans.  The  aged  Pius  II  was  .about  to 
sail  in  person  against  the  Turks,  when  he  died  in  the  port. 
Leo  X  (1513 — 1521)  was  so  great  a  protector  of  arts  and 
letters  that  his  name  is  given  to  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
periods  of  human  culture.  The  great  Council  of  Lateran 
(1512 — 1517)  decreed  many  useful  reforms  and  there  arose 
a  great  number  of  eminent  saints  and  doctors  of  renown. 
Finally,  the  Popes  sent  out  armies  of  missionaries  to  the 
newly-discovered  lands  in  Asia  and  America.  Thus,  not- 
withstanding evil  suspicions,  the  Popes  preserved  the 
recognition  of  the  Catholic  world,  and  were  its  respected 
leaders  in  the  road  of  progress  and  in  the  work  of 
evangelization . 

Providence  seems  to  have  allowed  this  attempt  on  the 
supremacy  ol  Christ's  Vicar  on  earth  before  the  revolt  of 
the  Protestants,  in  order  to  warn  them  into  what  con- 
fusion and  anxiet\-  they  would  throw  their  folio wers. 
In  fact  they  established  national  "churches"  wherever  they 
could,  which  they  maintained  by  the  bayonet;  but  they 
could  not  keep  together  the  Christians  of  a  single  land, 
and,  on  the  contrary,  hopelessly  divided  them  on  questions 
of  government  as  well  as  faith,  worship  and  discipline, 
making  of  all  northern  Europe  a  camp  of  bickering  sects. 
Innumerable  petty  preachers  practically  lay  claim  to  more 
infallibility  than  is  attributed  to  the  Pope;  and  the  poor 
bewildered  sectaries  know  not  where  to  look  to  find  the 
real  representative  of  Christ  and  the  trustworthy  preacher 
of  His  Gospel. 

Contemplate  the  majestic  line  of  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftynine  successors  of  St.  Peter,  following  each  other  like 
the  stars  ot  the  firmament,  obscured  by  only  a  few  passing 
clouds  and  by  one  great  storm  which  simply  made  the 
brilliancy  of  the  Apostolic  succession  more  apparent  than 
ever.  Consider  that  this  is  the  most  important  office  on 
earth,  and  is  subject  to  election  every  seventh  year  (as 
this  has  been  the  average  life  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  after 
their  elevation)  and  that  there  is  no  hereditary  kingdom 


164  THE  THREE  AGES. 

of  any  antiquity  which  has  not  had  many  and  grievous 
succession  troubles.  These  reflections  should  inspire  us  to 
thank  Jesus  Christ,  from  the  bottom  of  our  hearts,  that 
He  has  established  such  faithful  Vicars  on  earth  for  the 
security  of  His  children.  Our  Lord  is  with  His  Church 
always,  and  so  it  will  be,  as  His  promises  assure  us,  till 
the  consummation  of  the  ages. 


CHAPTER  TWENTYTHIRD. 
UNITY  OF  FAITH. 

I  pray  .  .  .  that  they  all  may  be  one,  as  Thou,  Father,  art 
in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  Us :  that  the 
world  may  believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me.  JOHN  xvn,  20-21. 

I.    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  SOCIETY. 

pAITH  was  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  society,  which 
it  kept  one  and  indivisible  during  the  thousand  years 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  enlightened  by  great  phil- 
osophers and  protected  by  wise  statesmen.  The  Scholastic 
Doctors  made  much  solid  demonstrations  and  such  clear 
illustrations  of  the  Christian  doctrine  that  in  all  the 
centuries  that  have  since  elasped  no  Protestant  or  infidel 
has  ever  made  any  serious  attempt  to  refute  them.  The 
rulers  protected  faith  as  the  basis  of  society  and  prevented 
the  spread  of  heresy  as  a  dangerous  revolution  against 
the  commonwealth.  They  established  courts  of  inquisition 
to  prevent  false  prophets  from  deceiving  the  unwary  people, 
and  they  undertook  holy  wars,  or  crusades,  to  compel 
fanatics  to  cease  disturbing  the  public  peace,  and  protect 
society  from  the  violent  aggressions  of  unbelieving  bar- 
barians. 

II.     FAITH  ENLIGHTENED  BY  THE  DOCTORS. 

The  magnificent  unity  of  faith,  which  reigned  during 
the  thousand  years  of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  not  the  result 
of  ignorance  or  indifference ;  but  of  enlightened  science  and 
spiritual  earnestness.  It  was  due  to  the  powerful  teach- 
ings of  the  missionaries  and  the  profound  expositions  of 
the  Scholastic  philosophers. 

It  is  certain  that  the  Gospel  was  not  accepted  by  the 
heathens  except  after  ample  proofs  of  its  claims  and  clear 
explanation  of  its  truths.  The  apostles  who  sacrificed 
their  lives  to  spread  the  glad  tidings  of  Christ's  redemption 


166  THE  THREE  AGES. 

among  the  barbarians  knew  how  to  lucidly  explain  the 
truths  and  maxims  of  the  Gospel  and  indelibly  impress 
them  upon  the  people.  Beside  their  own  zeal  and  natural 
fitness,  they  had  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
Je-3us  had  promised  (Matthew  x,  19,  20)  : 

"It  shall  be  given  you  what  to  speak,  for-  it  is  not  you  that  speak 
but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father  that  speaketh  in  you." 

They  explained  the  Gospel  so  simply  and  so  forcibly 
that  it  could  not  be  forgotten  for  centuries.  Neither  the 
ignorance  of  letters  among  the  barbarian  tribes,  nor  the 
abuses  of  heathenism  still  lingering  among  the  new  converts, 
nor  the  consequent  scandals  of  the  times,  could  alter  or  wipe 
it  out  of  memory,  and  all  the  principal  dogmas  remained 
intact  and  incorrupted  for  centuries.  In  the  eleventh 
century  the  great  Scholastic  Doctors  began  to  appear,  who 
explored  and  demonstrated  every  department  of  theology, 
and  instilled  into  the  j^oung  nations  of  Europe  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  God  and  his  Kingdom  on  earth,  and  a  lofty 
ambition  for  all  that  is  noble  and  good.  The  Scholastic 
Doctors  were  masters  as  exact,  as  profound  and  as  universal 
as  ever  have  arisen  in  the  scientific  world.  St.  Anselm,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  was  the  first  to  follow  closely  the  logi- 
cal method  of  Aristotle,  and  Peter  Lombard  followed  with 
his  Four  Books  of  the  Sentences.  In  the  thirteenth  century 
many  of  the  Franciscan  and  Dominican  friars  won  immortal 
fame,  especially  Alexander  of  Hales,  called  the  Irrefragable 
Doctor,  Albertus  Magnus,  the  Universal  Doctor,  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  the  Angelic  Doctor,  Roger  Bacon,  the  Wonderful 
Doctor,  Duns  Scotus,  the  Subtle  Doctor,  and  St.  Bona- 
venture,  the  Seraphic  Doctor. 

St.  Thomas  was  the  master  among  these  prodigious 
masters.  An  extraordinary  genius,  protected  by  an  angelic 
virtue,  allowed  his  eagle  mind  to  soar  into  the  loftiest 
regions  of  thought,  and  his  vast  learning  enabled  him  to 
reduce  into  most  admirable  unity  the  whole  body  of  sacred 
and  profane  science.  He  kept  busy  from  six  to  twelve 
secretaries,  to  whom  he  dictated  on  different  subjects. 
Beside  the  lights  of  his  sublime  intellect,  and  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  all  the  extant 
sources  of  Apostolic  Tradition  and  ancient  philosophy,  he 


UNITY  OF  FAITH.  167 

was  assisted  by  Divine  illuminations:  for  he  declared  to 
St.  Bonaventure  that  he  learned  everything  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cross.  His  works  are  an  impregnable  texture  of 
definitions  and  classifications,  syllogisms  and  dilemmas, 
and  prove  and  illustrate  everything  from  reason  as  well 
as  from  Revelation.  Chief  among  them  are  the  Summa 
Theologica  and  the  Summa  Philosophica  (or  Summa  Contra 
Gentiles) ,  so  called  because  they  sum  up  and  exhaust  the 
two  great  sciences  of  theology  and  philosophy.  The 
Council  of  Trent  put  his  Summa  Theologica  next  to  the 
Holy  Scriptures  and  the  Acts  of  the  Councils.  In  our  day 
the  great  Pope  Leo  XIII  has  ordered  it  to  be  studied  in 
all  the  Catholic  universities.  He  saps  in  his  Encyclical  on 
the  study  of  the  Christian  philosophy  Aeterni  (Patris): 

"Thomas  of  Aquin  far  outshines  every  one  of  the  Scholastic  Doctors, 
as  their  prince  and  master.  He  gathered  together  the  doctrines  scattered 
through  the  works  of  the  Fathers  and  the  philosophers,  bound  them 
together  in  an  organic  unity,  and  made  such  copious  additions  to  them 
that  he  may  be  rightly  and  deservedly  regarded  as  the  glory  and  the 
matchless  defender  of  the  Catholic  Church.  He  nourished  like  the  sun 
the  whole  universe  with  the  warmth  of  his  virtue,  and  filled  it  with  the 
lustre  of  his  learning.  There  is  no  part  of  philosophy  that  he  has  not 
fully  and  thoroughly  explored.  He  has  treated  so  clearly  of  the  laws  of 
reasoning,  of  God,  of  incorporeal  substances,  of  man  and  the  senses,  of 
human  acts  and  their  principles,  that  nothing  is  wanting  under  those 
heads;  neither  in  his  ample  store  of  questions,  nor  his  neat  arrangement 
of  the  parts,  nor  in  his  choice  method  of  proceeding,  nor  in  the  solidity 
of  his  principles,  nor  in  the  strength  of  his  arguments,  nor  in  the  per- 
spicuity and  propriety  of  his  diction,  nor  in  his  peculiar  faculty  in  ex- 
plaining the  most  abstruse  things. 

Sixtysix  universities  arose,  and  covered  Europe  from 
one  end  to  the  other;  and  in  them  the  Scholastic  phil- 
osophers taught  their  lofty  doctrines  to  thousands  of 
students.  Salvation  being  the  great  care  of  men,  theology 
was  their  principal  study,  and  the  Christian  doctrines 
became  so  well  known  in  all  their  bearings  that  any 
twist  or  alteration  or  misunderstanding  of  the  same  was 
immediately  noticed  by  the  learned  world  and  was  speedily 
eliminated.  That  is  the  main  reason  why  no  heresy  of  any 
strength  sprang  up  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  teachers  were 
too  well  versed  in  first  principles  to  deviate  from  the  well- 
known  doctrines  of  Christ.  If  inferior  or  restless  men 


168  THE  THREE  AGES. 

tittered  doctrines  that  seemed  to  be  novel  they  had  first 
to  meet  the  men  of  learning  of  the  universities;  and  if 
they  were  beaten  by  their  fellow-doctors,  and  their  positions 
shown  to  be  false,  they  were  not  allowed  to  deceive  the 
unwary  masses  unable  to  discern  the  poison  of  heresy.  II 
they  attempted  in  any  way  to  spread  their  doctrines  among 
the  simple  people  they  were  prevented  by  the  authorities 
of  State  and  Church,  as  disturbers  of  the  public  peace  and 
underminers  of  the  Christian  commonwealth. 

III.     FAITH  GUARDED  BY  THE  STATESMEN. 

Faith  being  the  basis  of  the  Christian  society,  heresy, 
which  is  a  denial  of  it,  was  consequently  a  crime  against 
society  as  much  as  theft  and  murder  were.  Therefore 
heretics  were  watched  and  repressed  by  the  civil  authori- 
ties. If  they  actually  disturbed  the  public  peace,  they 
were  punished,  like  any  common  offenders,  by  the  police, 
and  if  they  became  a  public  danger  they  were  put  down 
by  holy  wars  called  crusades.  In  the  twelfth  century  the 
Albigenses  of  the  south  of  France,  and  in  the  fourteenth 
the  Hussites  of  Bohemia,  made  terrible  disturbances  in 
those  countries,  and  could  not  be  quieted  down  except  by 
crusades  led  by  the  champions  of  Christian  civilization 
against  the  rebel  hordes  of  those  dangerous  anarchists. 

The  Albigenses  (1147—1229)  were  communists  of 
Southern  France  who  held  dualistic  principles  borrowed 
from  the  ancient  Manicheans.  According  to  them  the 
spirit  is  good,  the  body  evil;  hence  governments,  property 
and  marriage,  which  deal  with  material  things,  are  evil 
and  must  be  suppressed.  They  even  held  that  the  God  of 
the  Old  Testament  was  a  devil,  whose  works  Christ  came 
to  overthrow!  These  impious  heretics  actually  overturned 
every  institution  and  every  monument  in  southern  France, 
and  delivered  themselves  to  the  foulest  crimes.  In  vain 
did  the  Popes  send  the  most  holy  and  the  most  eloquent 
preachers  to  teach  them;  in  vain  did  St.  Dominic,  fasting 
and  barefooted,  cross  and  recross  their  country  and  speak 
as  a  saint  alone  can  speak.  They  remained  insensible  to 
his  burning  words  until  an  apparition  of  the  Mother  of 
God  showed  him  a  new  method  of  making  an  impression 


UNITY  OF  FAITH.  169 

upon  them.  One  day  when  Dominic  was  praying  before 
the  picture  of  Our  Lady  of  La  Prouille,  Mary  appeared  to 
him,  gave  him  the  Rosary,  and  bade  him  go  and  preach 
the  mysteries  of  the  Gospel.  His  beads  in  his  hands,  the 
mysteries  of  the  Gospel  on  his  lips,  he  revived  the  piety 
of  the  Catholics  and  excited  the  interest  of  the  heretics. 
While  they  were  praying,  they  were  meditating  upon  the 
life  of  Jesus  and  Mary,  and  impressing  upon  their  minds 
the  great  truths  of  our  salvation.  By  this  method  Dominic 
alone  converted  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  people.  After 
ten  years  of  hard  missionary  toil,  he  founded  the  Order  of 
the  Friars  Preachers,  to  continue  his  apostolate  among 
the  erring  and  the  ignorant.  However,  the  bulk  of  the 
heretics  remained  stubborn  and  threatening,  on  account  of 
the  protection  of  Raymond,  the  powerful  count  of  Toulouse. 
There  were  no  other  means  to  pacify  them  save  crusades 
and  inquisitions. 

Pope  Innocent  problaimed  a  holy  war  against  those 
wild  dreamers  and  terrible  destroyers.  The  counts  Simon 
and  Amaury  de  Montfort  fought  like  lions  against  them, 
the  kingdom  of  France  sent  its  best  troops,  and  it  was 
only  after  five  campaigns  that  the  stubborn  heretics  were 
reduced  to  peace.  The  Episcopal  Inquisition  was  instituted 
against  those  formidable  disturbers  of  social  and  religious 
order.  It  was  a  court  of  clergymen  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Bishop,  instituted  to  discover  and  judge  heretics  and 
to  prevent  their  proselytism.  The  eleventh  General  Council 
published  the  following  decree: 

"Such  heretics  and  their  abettors  as  are  not  content  to  act  silently 
aud  in  private,  but  boldly  insist  upon  preaching  their  errors  publicly, 
thus  perverting  weak  and  ignorant  people,  and  inflicting  cruelties  upon 
the  faithful,  sparing  neither  churches,  widows  nor  orphans,  should  be 
denied  all  intercourse  with  the  orthodox." 

At  the  Council  of  Verona  Frederic  Barbarossa  insisted 
that  all  Bishops  should  have  their  inquisitors  to  watch 
the  heretics.  The  twelfth  Ecumenical  Council  granted  full 
freedom  of  defence  to  the  accused,  but  recommended  the 
Bishops  to  visit  all  portions  of  their  respective  dioceses  at 
least  once  a  year,  in  order  to  nip  all  outcroppings  of 
heresy  in  the  bud.  In  the  Council  of  Toulouse,  1229,  the 


170  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Episcopal  Inquisition  was  formally  organized.  When  a 
man  was  found  guilty  of  spreading  heresy  and  would  not 
make  due  reparation  he  was  handed  over  to  the  civil 
authorities  as  a  disturber  of  the  public  order.  The  govern- 
ment applied  the  ordinary  penalties  of  those  ages,  which 
were  exile,  prison,  torture  or  death,  either  by  the  sword 
or  by  fire. 

Different  from  the  Episcopal  Inquisition  of  the  Church 
was  the  Royal  Inquisition  of  Spain,  constituted  in  1484 
to  destroy  the  power  of  the  Moors  and  their  allies  the 
Jews,  the  eternal  enemies  of  that  Christian  nation,  which 
they  had  once  annihilated  and  had  for  so  many  centuries 
oppressed.  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  asked  the  consent  of 
Pope  Sixtus  IV,  without  fully  explaining  the  case,  and 
obtained  it.  However,  this  Pope  and  his  successors  often 
endeavored  to  mitigate  the  severity  of  its  sentences.  Far 
from  being  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal,  the  Spanish  Inqui- 
sition was  a  royal  court,  against  the  doings  of  which  the 
Roman  Pontiffs  frequently  had  occasion  to  protest,  some 
of  them  going  so  far  as  to  threaten  excommunication  to 
the  chief  judge  unless  a  reform  was  made.  However,  it 
was  no  more  severe  than  the  other  secular  tribunals  of 
that  time. 

It  was  the  most  popular  court  of  the  Spaniards,  wha 
felt  that  it  was  their  chief  protection  against  the  worst 
enemies  of  their  national  existence.  Finally,  it  prevented 
Protestantism  from  being  smuggled  into  the  Iberian  pen- 
insula, and  spared  it  the  horrors  of  the  religious  wars 
which  crimsoned  northern  Europe  for  two  centuries. 
Gibbon,  Cobbett,  and  De  Maistre  remark  that,  even  con- 
ceding the  thousands  of  victims  alleged  by  the  infidels, 
they  were  far  less  numerous  than  the  millions  slaughtered 
during  the  Protestant  wars  of  religion  and  by  the  blood- 
thirsty infidels  of  the  French  Revolution.  Moreover,  there 
always  remains  the  essential  difference  that  the  Catholics 
acted  only  in  self-defence,  to  protect  the  existing  religion 
and  the  order  of  society,  without  forcing  the  dissenters  to 
believe  in  it;  while  the  Protestants  and  infidels  used  most 
atrocious  violence  to  force  unwilling  people  into  their  novet 
and  absurd  systems. 


UNITY  OF  FAITH.  171 

During  the  remainder  of  the  Middle  Ages  there  arose 
only  one  other  heresy  of  importance,  which  was  a 
forerunner  of  Protestanism.  It  attacked  the  Church  of 
God,  her  clergy  and  her  sacraments.  John  Wickliffe  ad- 
vanced certain  theories  contrary  to  the  Apostolic  faith  and 
inimical  to  the  authority  of  the  State,  at  Oxford  in  Eng- 
land, but  he  was  confuted  by  all  the  learned  men  of  his 
age  and  country,  and  condemned  at  the  Council  of  London 
in  1373.  He  had  no  other  followers  in  England  than  the 
fanatical  Lollards,  who  afflicted  that  country  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  by  their  disorders  and  their  anarchy.  How- 
ever, he  found  ardent  disciples  in  two  Bohemians,  John 
Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  who  were  the  leading  men  of 
the  university  of  Prague,  and  spread  the  poison  of  heresy 
all  over  Bohemia.  Condemned  by  the  Council  of  Constance, 
they  were  executed  by  the  secular  authorities.  Without 
passing  judgment  on  such  executions,  it  is  well  to  know- 
that  these  men  had  caused  the  death  of  many  priests,  and 
their  followers  commenced  a  ferocious  civil  war  which 
devastated  Bohemia  for  thirty  years. 

IV.     MEASURES  IN  CONFORMITY  TO  THE  TIMES. 

If  the  measures  against  the  heretics  were  harsh,  they 
were  necessary  and  effective.  They  were  only  measures  of 
self-defence  against  the  horrors  of  civil  and  religious 
anarchy.  They  kept  Europe  united  for  a  thousand  years; 
and  they  enabled  Christendom  to  present  one  compact 
front  against  its  formidable  Arabian  and  Turkish  foes,  to 
offer  one  certain  and  undisputed  faith  to  the  newly-dis- 
covered continents,  and  to  stand  firm  as  the  rock  of  ages 
against  the  swelling  waves  of  infidelity.  On  the  other 
hand,  divided  Protestantism  offers  the  sad  spectacle  of 
thousands  of  warring  sects  questiontioning  every  mystery 
of  the  Gospel ;  not  only  is  it  unable  to  impart  faith  to  the 
heathens,  but  it  is  itself  relapsing  into  Paganism. 


CHAPTFR  TWENTYFOURTH. 
HOLINESS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY. 

You  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  kingly  priesthood,  a  holy 
nation,  a  purchased  people;  that  you  may  declare  His  virtues 
who  hath  called  you  out  of  darkness  into  His  marvelous  light. 
I  PETER  11,  9. 

I.     SALVATION  THE  GREAT  AIM. 

Middle  Ages  were  Christian  Ages,  whose  great  aim 
was  the  promotion  of  the  reign  of  Christ  and  the 
salvation  of  souls.  They  vigorously  rooted  out  heresy, 
schism  and  scandal,  which  are  the  deadly  foes  of  Christian 
life;  and  they  made  strenuous  efforts  to  practice  the  most 
difficult  virtues.  People  in  the  world  attained  a  high 
degree  of  holiness.  Man}'  retired  to  the  cloister  to  practice 
the  Evangelical  counsels  and  lead  a  life  similar  to  that  of 
the  Savior.  Sanctity  was  not  rare  in  the  world,  and  it 
was  common  in  religion. 

II.    FULNESS  OF  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  IN  THE  WORLD. 

The  Christian  society  consecrated  all  the  great  events 
and  facts  of  the  year  by  religious  ceremonies.  The  Church 
multiplied  her  holidays  for  the  joy  of  the  people  as  well 
as  for  the  glory  of  God.  "Happy  is  the  people  that  knows 
rejoicing."  All  the  phases  of  the  year  were  consecrated  by 
special  religious  services.  Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
and  His  mother  Mary  were  like  the  sun  and  the  moon  of 
the  religious  world.  Triumphal  processions  carried  the 
Sacred  Host  through  the  thronged  streets  of  the  capital, 
as  well  as  through  the  quiet  roads  among  the  fields  and 
through  the  forests. 

The  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  was  called  "Our  Lady"  or 
"Our  dear  Lady,"  and  the  proud  knight  vied  with  the 
poor  woman  in  paying  homage  to  the  Mother  of  God. 


HOLINESS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  173 

In  1290,  a  month  after  the  last  Christian  fortress  in 
Palestine  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  the  house 
of  Mary  was  taken  away  from  Nazareth  by  the  ministry 
of  angels,  and  by  them  was  carried,  first  into  Dalmatia, 
and  then  to  Loretto  in  Italy.  From  that  day  until  this, 
multitudes  of  pilgrims  have  streamed  continually  towards 
the  Holy  House. 

Persons  of  every  rank,  sex  and  age  arose  to  a  high 
degree  of  sanctity.  Among  hundreds  of  others  shone  the 
following  saints:  Isidore,  a  farmer,  Homobonus,  a 
merchant,  Charles  the  Good,  a  count,  Godeliva,  a  princess ; 
kings  and  queens  of  every  Catholic  nation,  such  as 
Edward,  Olaf,  Henry  II,  the  two  Elizabeths,  Louis  IX, 
with  his  mother  Blanche  and  his  sister  Isabel,  Cassimir, 
Stephen  and  Margaret ;  the  priests  Ives  and  John  Nepomuk ; 
the  Bishops  Lawrence,  Malachy,  Anselm,  Raymond, 
Andrew,  Justinian  and  Peter  Damian ;  and  the  Popes 
Leo  IX  and  Gregory  VII. 

It  was  natural  that  among  such  pious  people,  many 
should  have  consecrated  themselves  entirely  to  God  by 
still  greater  sacrifices  in  religious  orders.  However,  if  the 
religious  received  enthusiastic  Christians  from  the  world, 
they  enkindled  all  the  more  fervor  in  the  world,  which 
thus  regained  indirectly  what  it  had  lost. 

III.    HEROIC  SACRIFICES  IN  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS. 
1.     Ancient  Orders. 

There  arose  many  new  branches  from  the  grand  old 
Benedictine  trunk.  Notable  among  these  were  the  congre- 
gations of  Cluny  and  Citeau,  each  of  which  grew  until 
they  numbered  hundreds  of  monasteries 

St.  Bernard,  the  abbot  of  the  Cistercian  house  of 
Clairvaux,  was  like  the  soul  of  the  twelfth  century.  Born 
of  a  noble  family,  he  persuaded  his  brothers  and  parents 
and  many  noblemen  to  enter  the  religious  life,  and  thus 
secured  the  best  energies  of  the  century  for  the  service  of 
God  and  man  in  the  cloister.  Preaching  the  Second 
Crusade,  he  aroused  half  a  million  of  warriors  to  leave 
their  homes  and  go  to  the  rescue  of  the  Holy  Land. 


174  THE  THREE  AGES. 

From  his  convent  he  inspired  and  directed  the  Christian 
world.  He  refused  to  leave  his  cell  when  the  greatest 
Churches  sought  him  as  Bishop  and  the  Popes  as  counsellor. 

However,  he  wrote  a  book  for  the  guidance  of  Pope 
Eugene  III,  his  former  pupil. 

In  1086  St.  Bruno  founded  an  order  exceedingly  severe. 
Penetrating  into  the  desert  of  Carthusium  (the  Chartreuse) 
near  Grenoble  he  bound  his  followers  to  a  lifelong  silence, 
and  prohibited  fleshmeat  to  them  forever.  Manual  labor 
and  contemplation,  a  board  for  a  couch,  a  narrow  cell  for 
a  room,  and  twice  a  day  an  allowance  of  cold  herbs ; 
such  is  the  life  of  that  contemplative  order.  It  became 
famous  for  its  masterpieces  of  manuscript  illumination, 
and  for  its  literary  works. 

St.  Norbert  founded  the  order  of  Premonstratum  in 
the  diocese  of  Laon,  and,  having  become  Archbishop  of 
Magdeburg,  he  spread  it  over  all  Germany  and  Poland. 

2.    Mendicant  Orders. 

The  age  however  required  more  than  the  regeneration 
of  the  ancient  orders.  The  monasteries  had  grown  rich  in 
consequence  of  the  improvement  of  the  land  they  had  tilled, 
and  of  the  donations  received  from  those  whom  they  had 
benefitted.  They  employed  their  possessions  for  the  building 
up  and  perfecting  of  the  Church  and  State.  Personalty  the 
individuals  were  poor,  but  as  members  of  the  communities 
they  were  rich.  Sometimes  this  was  an  occasition  of 
torpor  to  the  religious  and  a  stone  of  scandal  for  the 
seculars.  Then  arose  the  mendicant  orders  which  gave  to 
the  world  the  example  of  absolute  evangelical  poverty.  In 
1210  St.  Francis  of  Assissi  founded  the  first  order  of 
mendicant  friars.  The  love  of  God.  and  man  was  his  life. 
As  a  reward  of  his  devotion  to  the  Passion  of  Our  Lord, 
he  received  in  his  body  the  Impression  of  the  five  wounds 
of  Christ.  He  esteemed  evangelical  poverty  as  the  greatest 
of  treasures,  and  he  took  literally  the  words  of  the  Savior: 

"Do  not  possess  either  gold  or  silver,  nor  money  in  your  purses,  nor 
scrip  in  your  journey,  nor  two  coats  nor  a  staff  (St.  Matthew  x,  10)." 

He  abandoned  a  fortune,  and  many  followed  his  example. 
He  adopted  the  habit  of  the  poor  peasants  of  Italy,  to-wit, 


HOLINESS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  175 

SL  long  brown  tunic  of  coarse  woolen  cloth,  surmounted 
by  a  hood  and  confined  at  the  waist  by  a  hempen  cord. 
With  Francis  absolute  poverty  was  a  principle  and 
dependence  on  alms  an  actuality. 

With  the  other  orders  it  was  a  negative  principle,  for- 
bidding individual  posessions  to  the  members.  The  Francis- 
cans could  hold  no  property  even  as  an  order,  and  were 
dependent  on  others  for  their  support — therefore  they  were 
called  mendicant  friars,  that  is,  "begging  brothers".  When 
Innocent  III  received  Francis  in  audience  he  exclaimed: 
" Where  are  you  to  get  the  means  to  carry  on  this  work?" 
"I  put  my  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  answered  the 
saint;  "He  who  promises  glory  and  life  eternal  will  not 
fail  to  provide  the  necessaries  of  life  here  below."  The 
great  Pope  was  struck  with  admiration  for  the  heroical 
poverty  of  Francis.  The  new  order  spread*  rapidly.  Ten 
years  after  its  foundation  the  general  chapter  was  attended 
by  5,000  friars;  half  a  century  later  the  order  counted 
200,000  members  and  possessed  5,000  convents. 

St.  Francis  was  burning  with  zeal  for  the  conversion 
of  unbelievers;  he  actually  went  in  person  to  the  Musul- 
nian  camp  at  Jerusalem  to  preach  Jesus  Christ,  and  he 
communicated  this  apostolic  spirit  to  all  his  children.  In 
1241  the  Franciscans  arrived  in  Middle  Asia  at  the  court 
of  the  conquering  Mongols.  John  of  Monte  Cor  vino  pushed 
his  way  into  China,  where  he  baptized  many  thousands 
of  people,  built  churches,  and  became  Archbishop  of  Pekin, 
in  1331.  When  the  New  Worlds  were  discovered,  the 
various  branches  of  the  Franciscans  worked  with  apostolic 
zeal  in  both  the  East  and  the  West  Indies,  and  converted 
millions  to  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Conjointly  with  St.  Clara,  St.  Francis  established  the 
order  of  the  Poor  Clares,  and  there  were  still  more  women 
than  men  devoting  themselves  to  a  life  of  poverty.  Finally, 
lymen  wished  to  partake  of  the  spirit  and  the  blessings 
>f  the  mendicant  orders.  So  St.  Francis  drew  up  a  rule 
unpatible  with  every  state  and  condition  of  life  in  the 
,  which  he  called  the  "Third  Order,"  and  which  was 

ipted  with   incredible   eagerness.     Thus   not    only   the 
spirit  of  the  world  did  not  invade  the   monasteries,  but 


176  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  austerities  of  the  cloister  reached  the  heart  of  the 
world,  and  made  it  bloom  with  flowers  of  virtue  and 
holiness. 

St.  Dominic,  the  apostle  of  the  Albigenses  and  the 
friend  of  St.  Francis,  similarly  established  a  mendicant 
order  of  preachers  and  of  nuns,  with  a  third  order  for  lay 
persons,  which  were  called  Dominican  Orders. 

Besides  these  and  other  new  institutions  the  Carmelites 
and  the  Augustinian  hermits  also  adopted  the  rule  of 
the  mendicant  orders.  These  men  of  poverty  exerted  an 
overwhelming  influence  in  the  Church,  and  everywhere 
enkindled  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  the  love  of  eternal 
goods. 

So  many  new  congregations  sprang  up  that  the  Church 
had  to  forbid  for  a  time  the  introduction  of  new  rules. 
Among  these  we  find  in  Spain  the  Hieronymites,  and  in 
Italy  the  Olivetans  and  Jesuats,  the  Servites,  and  the 
Minims  of  St.  Francis  de  Paul  (1457).  Beside  the  poverty 
of  the  Franciscans,  the  Minims  aimed  also  at  an  extreme 
humility,  and  therefore  called  themselves  Minims,  i.  e.,  the 
last  and  least  of  the  orders.  In  the  north  of  Europe 
flourished  the  societies  of  the  Beguines  and  the  Brothers 
of  the  Common  Life. 

3.    Charitable  and  Military  Orders. 

A.      CHARITABLE    ORDERS. 

Terrible  plagues  often  swept  over  Europe  and  gave 
occasion  to  the  rise  of  charitable  orders  for  the  care  of 
'the  sick  and  the  needy,  such  as  the  Antonins  in  1098,  the 
Humiliati  in  1134,  etc.  Noble  men  and  women  devoted 
themselves  in  the  leperhouses  to  a  slow  but  sure  death, 
with  the  wretched  lepers  who  were  shunned  by  everybody. 

B.      MILITARY    ORDERS. 

The  everlasting  wars  of  the  Mohammedans  against 
the  Christians  called  forth  noble  orders  for  the  defence  of 
the  faithful  and  the  redemption  of  the  captives.  Besides 
the  vows  of  poverty,  chastity  and  obedience  the  knights 
pledged  themselves  to  defend  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  to 


HOLINESS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  177 

fight  the  Mohammedans.  There  were  three  great  military 
orders  spread  throughout  Christendom,  besides  a  number 
of  others  in  Spain.  The  general  orders  were  the  Knights 
Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  (founded  1098),  the 
Knights  Templar  (1127)  and  the  Teutonic  Knights  (1190). 
The  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  not  only  took  care  of  sick 
pilgrims,  but  also  defended  them  against  the  infidels.  They 
were  the  strong  rampart  of  the  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem, 
and  after  its  fall  the  impregnable  bulwark  of  Christian 
Europe  against  the  threatening  Turks,  both  at  Rhodes 
and  at  Malta,  over  which  they  successively  ruled.  The 
sieges  they  underwent  in  1522  at  Rhodes  and  in  1565  at 
Malta  will  be  forever  glorious  in  history. 

The  Knights  Templar,  established  in  1178,  rendered 
great  service,  but  they  were  accused  of  corruption  by  the 
greedy  king  Philip  the  Fair,  and  suppressed  by  the  Holy 
See,  and  all  their  possessions  were  confiscated  except  in 
Spain  and  Portugal,  where  they  were  allowed  to  reorganize 
under  the  name  of  Order  of  Christ.  The  Teutonic  Knights 
or  Hospitallers  of  St.  Mary  of  Jerusalem,  at  first  per- 
formed functions  similar  to  those  of  the  Knights  of 
St.  John,  but  afterwards  devoted  themselves  to  the  con- 
version and  pacifying  of  the  Pagan  tribes  of  Livonia  and 
Prussia. 

Spain  was  the  battlefield  of  Christendom  and  Moham- 
medanism for  eight  centuries,  and  became  the  land  of 
heroism  and  chivalry;  there  flourished  several  military 
orders  instituted  to  repel  the  Moors,  especially  the  Knights 
of  Calatrava  (1158),  St.Iago  (1170)  and  Alcantara  (1179). 

C.      ORDERS    FOR    REDEMPTION    OF    CAPTIVES. 

The  Mohammedans  reduced  to  cruel  slavery  their  cap- 
tives of  war  and  of  piracy,  and  allured  them  to  apostasy 
by  promising  liberty  if  the  would  adjure  Christ.  God  Him- 
self and  His  blessed  Mother  appeared  to  heroic  men  to 
send  them  to  the  rescue  of  the  prisoners.  Two  orders 
were  established  for  the  special  work  of  the  redemption 
of  captives:  The  Trinitarians  in  1198,  and  the  Order  of 
Mercy  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  in  1218. 

12 


178 


THE  THREE  AGES. 

D.      THE    GLORY    OF    TRUE    RELIGION. 


Thus  did  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  take  every  shape  and 
form  to  promote  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of 
souls.  The  Benedictines  excelled  in  piety,  the  Franciscans 
in  poverty,  the  Sisters  in  Charity  and  the  knights  in 
bravery.  There  were  not  only  a  few  individuals  who 
practised  these  virtues,  but  armies  of  men  and  women 
during  many  centuries.  Did  they  not  live  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ  ?  Was  not  their  sacrifice  an  imitation  of  the  Sacri- 
fice of  Calvary  ?  Did  the  sects  ever  produce  such  flowers 
of  heroic  virtue,  and  in  such  enormous  numbers  ? 


CHAPTER  TWENTYFIFTH. 
PROSPERITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY. 

Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  justice,  and  all 
things  else  shall  be  added  unto  you.    MATTHEW  vi,  33. 

I.     MATERIAL  AND  SPIRITUAL  PROGRESS. 

TT  is  natural  that  the  people  of  the  Middle  Ages,  one  in 
faith  and  fervent  in  piety,  should  have  reached  Heaven 
easier  than  the  people  of  our  day,  divided  in  their  faith 
and  immersed  in  worldly  affairs.  But  those  who  pretend 
that  they  led  miserable  lives  in  this  world,  and  that  liberty, 
progress  and  pleasure  were  deficient  among  them,  are 
utterly  in  the  wrong.  The  feeble  were  protected  by  the 
knights;  all  the  interests  of  the  workingmen  were  safe- 
guarded by  the  powerful  guilds;  hopeless  and  helpless 
poverty,  such  as  is  so  rife  at  the  present  day,  was  alto- 
gether unknown ;  and  there  was  time  and  money  to  spare 
to  erect  universities,  churches  and  commercial  and  public 
buildings  which  today  elicit  universal  admiration.  The 
blessings  of  Heaven  are  promised  to  those  who  serve  the 
Lord,  and  they  are  never  found  wanting. 

II.    CHIVALRY. 

Treachery  and  violence,  the  usual  vices  of  savages  were 
not  absent  among  the  conquerors  of  the  Roman  Empire; 
but  they  were  counteracted  by  the  refining  influence  of 
chivalr}'.  Christian  knighthood  was  the  consecration  of 
valor  to  the  defence  of  virtue.  It  was  called  chivalry,  from 
the  French  word  for  horse,  because  most  of  the  fighting 
was  done  on  horseback.  Only  noblemen  were  admitted  to 
this  dignity,  and  that  only  after  a  long  military  training, 

' 


180  THE  THREE  AGES. 

in  the  service  of  some  old  warrior.  The  reception  or  initi- 
ation was  impressive.  After  an  all-night  vigil  in  the  church, 
with  confession  and  communion,  the  knight  placed  his 
sworn  on  the  altar  and  the  Bishop  consecrated  it,  that  it 
might  be  used  in  defence  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  feeble, 
the  orphan  and  the  widow.  Chivalry  helped  to  remedy 
the  evils  of  the  military  system  of  feudalism,  and  to  soften 
the  wild  manners  of  the  times.  When  half-barbarian  princes 
attempted  to  trample  upon  the  rights  of  others,  or  to 
oppress  the  weak  and  defenceless,  or  to  despoil  the  churches, 
the  knights  stood  up  for  justice,  innocence  and  religion. 
While  the  wild  nature  of  the  barbarians  pushed  them  to 
perfidiously  destroy  their  enemy,  the  knights  introduced 
that  fidelity  to  the  plighted  word  by  which  a  simple  pro- 
mise became  more  trustworthy  than  is  a  solemn  oath  in 
our  days.  They  always  paid  to  women  that  attention  and 
respect  which  kad  to  a  polite  and  exquisite  society.  If 
they  conquered  an  enemy  they  treated  him  kindly  and 
courteously.  If  a  poor  knight  or  pilgrim  knocked  at  their 
gates  they  received  him  honorably  and  relieved  him  in  his 
distress.  Thus  did  the  knights  contribute  to  create  a 
refined  society  where  honor  was  considered  a  treasure  and 
virtue  a  necessity.  Duty  and  right,  respect  to  the  feeble 
and  defence  of  the  oppressed  were  the  mottoes  of  the 
Catholic  knights.  The  tournaments  of  the  knights  offered 
more  magnificent  displays  in  the  middle  Ages  than  the 
Olympian  and  Isthmian  games  in  Greece. 

It  was  in  France  about  the  year  1000  that  chivalry 
was  first  instituted.  It  was  in  the  holy  wars  against  the 
Mohammedans  that  it  rendered  its  greatest  services.  The 
most  famous  warriors  entered  the  military  orders  instituted 
for  the  defence  of  the  Christian  society  and  devoted  their 
whole  lives  to  that  noble  cause.  They  became  the  regular 
army  of  the  Church,  and  her  bulwark  in  the  most  threaten- 
ing danger.  Such  were  the  Hospitallers,  the  Templars,  the 
Teutonic  and  the  Spanish  Knights.  Not  only  did  they 
defend  individuals,  but  society  itself,  with  all  the  devoted- 
ness  of  monks  and  all  the  eagerness  of  warriors.  Would 
not  the  people  cherish  such  noble  defenders?  Would  not 
the  serfs  love  to  work  for  such  devoted  masters? 


PROSPERITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  181 

III.    FREE  CITIES  AND  GUILDS. 

Certain  superficial  and  prejudiced  writers  have  made 
the  extraordinary  assertion  that  there  was  neither  liberty 
nor  comfort  for  the  masses  of  the  people  during  the  Middle 
Ages.  But  history  asserts  that  many  cities  acquired  the 
fullest  freedom  and  great  wealth,  in  the  north  as  well  as 
in  the  south  of  Europe.  As  soon  as  the  invasions  of  the 
barbarians  had  subsided,  some  cities  of  northern  Italy  took 
their  governments  into  their  own  hands.  When  the  Hohen- 
staufen  Emperors  attempted  to  reduce  them  into  servitude, 
they  formed  the  Lombard  League,  with  the  Popes  at  their 
head,  to  defend  their  rights.  They  kept  up  a  struggle  of 
a  whole  century,  and  thus  maintained  their  independence 
till  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.  They  were  rich  and 
powerful  enough  to  dispute  with  great  kings  the  dominion 
of  land  and  sea.  Venice,  Milan,  Genoa,  Pisa  and  Florence 
then  had  more  power  and  more  freedom  than  at  any  other 
time;  and  the  neighboring  kings,  jealous  of  their  wealth, 
made  many  and  long  wars  to  subdue  them. 

Venice  defended  her  independence  until  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  was  subdued  by  no  other  conqueror 
than  Napoleon  the  Great  (1797).  For  several  centuries 
she  reigned  as  queen  over  the  Adriatic  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean ;  she  also  constituted  a  strong  bulwark  of  the  west 
against  the  progress  of  the  Ottoman  Turks.  She  was  the 
metropolis  of  the  trade  between  the  Orient  and  the  Occi- 
dent, and,  so  far  as  the  conditions  allowed,  her  trade  was 
as  brisk  as  that  of  our  great  commercial  centers. 

About  the  eleventh  century  the  cities  of  northern 
Europe  commenced  to  govern  themselves.  St.  Louis  IX 
of  France  recognized  the  citizens7  privilege  of  choosing  their 
own  judges  and  magistrates.  In  1215  the  English  wrung 
from  John  Lackland  the  * 'Great  Charter  of  English  liber- 
ties." Under  the  benign  rays  of  the  sun  of  freedom  the 
northern  communes  soon  became  popular  and  thriving, 
and  constituted  leagues  for  the  defence  of  their  trade 
against  rapacious  princes.  Bruges,  Antwerp,  Ghent,  Ham- 
burg, Novgorod  and  London  were  carrying  on  an  active 
commerce  with  inland  cities  and  with  Venice  and  Genoa, 


182  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Great  was  the  wealth  and  power  of  Bruges.  The  queen 
of  France,  Joan  of  Navarre,  in  a  visit  to  the  Flemish 
capital,  was  overshadowed  by  the  toilettes  and  jewels  of 
the  Flemish  ladies,  and  full  of  spite  she  exclaimed:  "I 
thought  that  I  alone  was  queen;  but  I  see  a  hundred 
queens  around  me."  When,  in  later  times,  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  undertook  to  curtail  the  privileges  of  that 
proud  city,  he  was  arrested  and  kept  in  prison  for  three 
months,  notwithstanding  the  protestations  of  all  the 
courts  of  Europe. 

Society  enjoyed  more  peace  than  today.  The  Church 
had  solved  the  social  questions  of  the  times,  and  regulated 
the  relations  between  the  laborers  and  the  masters  in  a 
spirit  of  justice  and  charity  which  gave  satisfaction  to  all. 
The  rich  merchants  did  not  combine  together  to  form  a 
monopoly  of  grain  and  wool,  such  combinations  being 
treated  by  the  laws  as  criminal;  and  the  poor  working- 
men  were  not  forced  to  resort  to  strikes  to  vindicate  their 
right  to  receive  in  return  for  their  daily  labor  a  livelihood 
for  themselves  and  their  families.  Everyone  had  plent3'  of 
food  and  clothes,  of  air  and  room,  and  the  most  isolated 
serf  was  better  fed  and  housed  than  many  day  laborers  in 
our  wealthy  modern  cities.  In  every  commune  the  people 
of  the  same  trade  were  associated  in  societies  called 
guilds,  under  the  spiritual  direction  of  a  priest  of  God,  and 
they  regulated  their  prices  and  settled  among  themselves 
all  difficulties  between  capital  and  labor.  Everybody  had 
to  be  an  apprentice  and  to  master  his  trade  before  being 
admitted  to  a  body  of  tradesmen.  The  laborer  had  always 
his  share  in  the  profits  produced  by  his  work,  and  lived  in 
ease  and  comfort.  The  public  accounts  of  London  show 
that  the  workingmen  wore  woolen  clothes  and  that  they 
had  meat  every  day;  while  now  hundreds  of  thousands 
have  nothing  but  cotton  to  wear  and  potatoes  to  eat. 
The  condition  of  the  villeins  or  serfs  seems  less  satisfactory, 
as  they  were  attached  to  the  lands  of  their  lords.  But 
these  masters  were,  for  the  most  part,  practical  Christians, 
and  treated  their  subjects  with  charity  as  their  brethren 
in  Jesus  Christ.  What  these  serfs  lacked  in  liberty  they 
gained  in  peace  and  abundance.  They  were  free  from  that 


PROSPERITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  183 

struggle  for  existence  and  fear  for  the  morrow,  which  now 
is  the  nightmare  of  the  laborer  of  the  factories.  There 
were  fewer  wants  than  now  and  they  were  better  satisfied. 

IV.    UNIVERSITIES  AND  CATHEDRALS. 

After  St.  Gregory  VII  had  replaced  the  clergy  at  the 
head  of  the  Christian  people,  they  resumed  their  function 
of  educating  those  who  were  under  their  charge.  Every 
church  and  every  monastery  had  to  have  a  school,  and 
there  arose  in  all  parts  of  Europe  cathedral,  parochial  and 
cloister  schools.  However  it  was  impossible  to  impart 
elementary  instruction  to  every  one;  the  chief  obstacles 
being  the  want  of  paper  and  of  printed  books,  and  the 
lack  of  inclination  and  aptitude  for  study  among  the 
lowest  classes  and  even  among  the  more  warlike  element 
of  the  nobity. 

However,  the  Church  carefully  instructed  all  the  people 
in  Christian  doctrine,  and  inculcated  upon  every  one  pure 
morals,  respect  for  the  marriage  tie  and  the  order  of 
society,  and  love  of  family ;  and  this  is  worth  more  for 
the  true  happiness  of  mankind  than  a  superficial  book- 
knowledge. 

If  instruction  was  not  as  common  as  in  our  days,  it 
was  more  profound  and  more  thorough.  A  lively  desire 
for  higher  studies  gave  rise  to  numerous  universities  in 
which  a  universal  knowledge  was  taught,  and  all  the 
sciences  -were  cultivated.  The  Popes  were  the  originators 
and  protectors  of  these  great  institutions.  In  the  south 
the  universities  were  erected  about  the  year  1200,  in  the 
north  one  or  two  centuries  later.  The  masters  who  broke 
the  bread  of  science  in  these  great  schools  occupy  the  first 
'ank  in  the  history  of  genius  and  of  learning.  St.  Thomas 
and  St.  Bonaventure  are  among  the  brightest  stars  in  the 
irmament  of  knowledge.  Such  masters  drew  legions  of 
iger  students  around  their  chairs.  Fifty  years  after  its 
foundation  Oxford  could  count  30,000  members.  At  Paris 
the  number  of  university  men  and  women  exceeded  that 
of  the  other  inhabitants.  Bologna  had  tens  of  thousands 
of  students,  and  in  1408  Prague  counted  36,000.  So  it 


184  THE  THREE  AGES. 

was  with  the  other  universities,  like  Salamanca  in  Spain. 
Not  only  were  there  lady  students  but  also  lady  professors 
in  those  Catholic  universities.  The  graduates  were  truly 
learned,  and  they  occupied  all  the  leading  places,  not  only 
in  the  large  cities,  but  also  in  the  most  humble  villages. 
This  was  a  time  of  poetical  inspiration  as  well  as  of  scientific 
research.  The  Divina  Commedia  of  Dante  is  the  noblest 
creation  of  human  genius.  It  lends  the  charms  of  poetry 
to  the  truths  of  religion,  leading  the  reader  through  Hell, 
Purgatory  and  Heaven,  with  truly  Homeric  genius. 

The  artists  created  their  great  masterpieces  which 
compel  the  admiration  of  posterity,  and  the  scientists  laid 
up  stores  of  knowledge  which  paved  the  way  to  our  modern 
inventions.  The  compass  was  improved,  and  rendered 
possible  the  new  maritime  discoveries  in  Asia  and  America. 
Firearms  and  gunpowder  were  invented.  The  art  of  print- 
ing with  moveable  type  was  originated  by  Guttenberg 
(1400—1468),  and  before  the  century  closed  the  Bible 
was  printed  in  a  hundred  editions  and  many  different 
languages. 

Wonderful  progress  was  made  in  algebra,  trigonometry, 
engineering,  mining,  geography,  astronomy,  medicine  and 
other  sciences ;  in  architecture,  metal  working,  the  weaving 
of  cloth,  the  painting  of  glass,  and  scores  of  other  industries ; 
and  as  a  result  and  crowning  of  all  these  efforts  Columbus 
discovered  the  Western  hemisphere  in  1492. 

Great  monuments  are  unmistakable  signs  of  great 
nations,  and  there  never  arose  more  artistic  monuments 
than  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Until  the  eleventh  century  the  churches  of  northern 
Europe  were  mostly  built  in  wood.  After  the  year  1,000, 
however,  innumerable  brick  and  stone  churches  were  raised 
in  Italy,  Spain,  France,  Belgium,  England  and  Germany, 
which  excite  the  admiration  of  the  world  in  our  own  age. 
Not  only  did  great  cities  erect  such  monuments,  but  even 
remote  villages,  and  these  edifices  stand  until  today,  where 
Protestant  or  Revolutionary  vandals  have  not  overthrown 
them.  Italy,  Spain  and  Belgium,  which  were  relatively 
free  from  the  ravages  of  either  species  of  anarchists,  are 
covered  on  all  sides  with  monumental  churches. 


PROSPERITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY.  185 

What  gives  a  special  beauty  to  a  majority  of  these 
structures  is  the  Gothic  style,  a  superb  creation  of  Christian 
genius.  The  arts  of  painting,  carving  and  metal- working 
all  lent  their  charms  to  the  vast  edifices.  Their  stained- 
glass  windows  were  made  so  perfectly  that  it  has  never 
been  found  possible  to  reproduce  them ;  and  both  interiorly 
and  exteriorly  they  were  adorned  with  masterpieces  of 
painting  and  carving.  The  cathedral  of  Cologne  is  con- 
sidered by  many  to  be  the  most  perfect  monument  of  Gothic 
architecture.  Hardly  do  its  feet  appear  to  touch  the  earth ; 
its  pointed  arches  and  lofty  vaults  rise  to  the  sky,  and 
seem  to  carry  heavenward  the  prayers  of  the  worshippers. 
The  masterpiece  of  the  Renaissance  style  and  queen  of  all 
human  buildings  is  the  great  basilica  of  St.  Peter's  of  the 
Vatican  at  Rome,  of  which  the  infidel  Voltaire  said :  "When 
I  stand  at  the  gates  of  St.  Peter's,  I  believe."  It  was 
planned  and  commenced  at  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  it  may  be  called  the  solemn  will  and  testament  of 
their  faith.  It  measures  613  feet  in  length,  4-50  in  width 
and  152  in  height.  But  the  laws  of  proportion  are  so 
well  observed  that  the  eye  cannot  appreciate  its  immensity. 
It  is  only  when  one  walks  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  around 
its  colossal  columns  that  one  begins  to  have  any  adequate 
idea  of  it. 

The  other  public  buildings  were  characterized  by  grace 
and  majesty.  The  belfries,  or  archive  towers,  the  court- 
houses and  the  guild-houses  are  structures  comparable  in 
strength  to  the  best  of  our  modern  buildings,  and  far 
superior  to  them  in  style  and  elegance.  The  light  steeples 
and  the  graceful  outlines  of  the  Brussels  and  Lou  vain  city 
halls,  the  delicate  tower  of  Pisa,  and  the  palaces  of  Florence, 
have  never  yet  been  surpassed. 

V,     PROGRESS  STOPPED  BY  PROTESTANTISM  AND 
INFIDELITY, 

The  ages  of  valiant  knight  and  dauntless  crusaders, 
the  ages  of  proud  republics  and  powerful  commonwealths, 
the  ages  of  the  Scholastic  Doctors  and  their  great  univer- 
sities, the  ages  of  the  majestic  cathedrals  and  magnificent 
halls,  were  a  time  of  brilliant  and  solid  progress.  But 


186  THE  THREE  AGES. 

this  progress  was  interrupted  by  the  outbreaks  of  fanaticism 
and  vandalism  that  took  place  in  the  16th  and  18th  centu- 
ries. Knightly  valor,  popular  liberty,  general  comfort,  open- 
handed  hospitality,  university  learning  and  cathedral  build- 
ing were  things  of  the  past,  and  the  world  was  checked  in 
its  onward  march  for  three  hundred  years.  Our  century 
has  perfected  and  applied  many  of  the  inestimable  in- 
ventions of  the  Middle  Ages;  and  our  wonderful  material 
progress  is  greatly  due  to  the  patient  researches  of  our 
ancestors. 


CHAPTER  TWENTYSIXTH. 
A  NEW  BARBARISM  THREATENED. 

O  God,  Thy  enemies  have  taken  a  malicious  council  against 
Thy  people,  and  have  consulted  against  Thy  saints.  They  have 
said:  Come  and  let  us  destroy  them,  so  that  they  be  not  a 
nation,  and  let  the  name  of  Israel  be  remembered  no  more. 
They  have  contrived  \vith  one  consent ;  they  have  made  a 
covenant  against  Thee ;  the  tabernacles  of  the  Edomites  and  the 
Ishmaelites.  PSALM  LXXXH,  4 — 7. 

I.    MOHAMMED  NOT  QUALIFIED  TO  FOUND  A  RELIGION. 

TN  the  seventh  century  Mohammed  established  a  new 
religion.  He  had  neither  the  requisite  virtue,  nor  a 
mission  from  above.  But  he  had  a  genius  mighty  enough 
to  move  and  to  enflame  the  Arabian  tribes,  for  the  propa- 
gation of  his  system.  He  appeared  before  them  as  the 
greatest  of  the  prophets ;  he  gave  them  as  a  decree  of 
Allah  (their  name  for  Almighty  God)  the  command  to 
make  war  for  the  spread  of  his  doctrines,  and  he  allowed 
them  the  gratification  of  the  strongest  passions.  So  his 
followers  went  forth  to  subdue  the  world  by  force  of  arms, 
and  thus  a  perpetual  war  was  begun  which  lasted  a 
thousand  years,  and  in  the  heart  of  Africa  has  continued 
on  a  small  scale  down  to  our  own  day.  But  the  very 
causes  which  led  to  the  subduing  of  continents  to  Moham- 
med's rule  the  rule  of  Mohammedanism,  prepared  also  its 
inevitable  ruin.  .His  usurpation  of  the  prophetic  office  ex- 
>sed  him  to  the  greatest  errors,  his  military  propagandism 
:hausted  his  followers,  and  his  allowance  of  polygamy 
tnd  slavery  enervated  and  debased  them. 

II.     AN  INCONGRUOUS  SYSTEM. 

Mohammed  was  born  of  a  Pagan  father  and  a  Jewish 
lother.    Left  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  six  years,  he  was 
brought   up   by   his   uncle   Abu    Taleb.     When  a  boy,  he 


188  THE  THREE  AGES. 

earned  his  living  as  a  shepherd,  and  had  no  opportunity 
for  learning ;  and  he  could  neither  read  nor  write,  as  he  him- 
self admitted.  In  his  youth  he  led  caravans  of  merchants 
to  the  fairs  of  Damascus  and  Bassorah,  and  thus  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  commercial  world  of  his  region  and 
time.  At  twentyfive  he  entered  the  service  of  a  rich  widow 
called  Cadijah,  who  entrusted  to  him  her  trade  with  Syria. 
Later  on,  he  obtained  her  hand,  and  thus  acquired  wealth 
and  position.  At  forty  Mohammed  gave  up  trading  and 
undertook  to  form  a  new  religion.  He  had  always  been 
inclined  to  meditation,  and  every  year  he  used  to  retire 
to  the  mountains  for  a  whole  month.  But  he  was  no  less 
inclined  to  sensualism,  and  he  is  known  to  have  had  nine 
wives  at  a  time.  He  had  no  call  from  Heaven,  as  he  never 
performed  a  single  miracle  in  proof  of  a  Divine  mission. 
His  great  mistake  was  to  undertake  the  work  of  God 
without  qualification  or  authority. 

Borrowing  from  the  Bible  the  imagery  of  the  great 
revelations,  he  rerelated  that  he  had  been  before  the 
Throne  of  the  Almighty,  who  had  signed  his  forehead  with 
the  prophetic  sign,  and  shown  him  the  following  inscription 
in  letters  of  dazzling  light:  "There  is  but  one  God,  and 
Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  He  pretended  to  be  in  com- 
munication with  the  Archangel  Gabriel ;  and  he  represented 
as  messages  from  the  Holy  Ghost  the  epileptic  fits  to 
which  he  was  subject.  Sometimes  he  was  really  possessed 
by  the  Devil.  After  long  and  solitary  broodings  he  was 
moved  with  fearful  vehemence,  and  roared  like  a  camel, 
his  eyes  turned  red,  his  mouth  foamed,  and  his  whole  body 
streamed  with  perspiration.  During  his  real  or  pretended 
frenzies  the  monk  Sergius  noted  his  words  as  they  fell 
from  his  lips.  His  successor  Abu  Bekr  collected  them  in  a 
book  called  the  Koran,  which  is  a  confused  medley  of 
narrations  and  visions,  sermons,  precepts  and  counsels,  in 
which  nearly  every  aphorism  is  contradicted  by  some  con- 
trary maxim. 

Arabia  was  mostly  settled  by  the  Ismahelites,  and 
portions  of  it  followed  the  three  religions  of  Parseeism, 
Judaism  and  Christianity,  but  in  a  corrupt  way;  while 
the  rest  of  the  country  adhered  to  its  traditional  Paganism. 


A  NEW  BARBARISM  THREATENED.  189 

There  was  a  national  sanctuary  at  Mecca,  called  the 
Kaaba,  which  contained  360  idols  ranged  around  the 
black  stone  of  Abraham,  and  to  which  thousands  of  pil- 
grims flocked  every  year.  Mohammed  belonged  to  the 
family  which  had  control  of  the  Kaaba.  He  claimed  a 
Divine  mission  to  overthrow  the  idols,  but  his  own  relations 
sought  to  put  him  to  death,  and  for  eight  years  he  had 
to  fight  for  his  life.  Finally  he  fled  from  Mecca  to  Medina 
in  622,  from  which  time  dates  his  Era,  which  is  called  the 
Hegira  or  Flight'.  With  robbers  and  runaway  slaves  he 
attacked  the  Meccan  caravans;  soon  he  had  an  army  and 
captured  Mecca  and  destroyed  the  idols.  Without  any 
prophetic  marks  he  pretended  to  be  a  greater  prophet  than 
either  Moses  or  Jesus.  Notwithstanding  the  supernatural 
light  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  shining  before  him, 
he  fell  into  the  worst  of  Pagan  errors,  such  as  fatalism 
and  sensualism,  denying  the  the  very  liberty  and  dignity 
of  man.  According  to  him  we  are  not  free  agents,  but  are 
driven  by  Fate  or  blind  destiny;  i.  e.,  our  life  is  irrevocably 
fixed  by  God,  our  lot  is  cast  and  we  cannot  change  it. 
The  end  of  man  is  sensual  pleasure,  here  and  hereafter, 
and  every  man  may  have  several  wives  and  many  slaves. 
Such  concessions  were  sure  to  attract  followers  among  the 
half-savage  tribes  of  the  desert.  Moreover,  Mohammed 
gave  the  Arabs  exterior  rites  and  ceremonies  capable  of 
dulling  their  religious  cravings,  to  wit:  circumcision, 
prayers,  five  daily  ablutions,  a  month  of  fasting  every 
year,  perpetual  abstinence  from  wine,  alms  to  the  poor, 
at  least  one  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  during  life,  and,  above 
all,  war  for  the  propagation  of  the  Koran. 

III.    FANATICAL  WARFARE. 

When  Mohammed  was  asked  to  perform  miracles  in 
>roof  of  his  claims,  he  answered  that  he  was  not  sent  to 
form  miracles,  but  to  subdue  the  world  and  that  his 
iccess  was  the  Divine  seal  upon  his  mission.  However, 
tis  conquests  were  no  more  supernatural  than  the  con- 
[uest  of  Alexander  or  Napoleon.  They  were  the  result  ot 
iis  great  military  genius,  organizing  the  warlike  tribes  of 
Arabia  for  the  subjugation  of  the  surrounding  nations. 


190  THE  THREE  AGES. 

He  fascinated  them  by  the  prestige  of  his  personality,  by 
his  fatalistic  doctrines,  and  his  sensual  pleasures,  and  thus 
drove  them  into  an  interminable  warfare  against  the  rest 
of  mankind. 

He  dispensed  his  followers  from  the  obligations  of  any 
treaty  made  with  strangers,  whether  Pagan  or  Christian; 
and  he  made  'war  against  the  whole  world  his  chief  com- 
mand. He  said: 

"The  sword  is  the  key  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  One  night  spent 
under  arms  is  worth  more  than  two  months  of  prayer.  If  any  one  fall 
in  battle,  his  sins  are  forgiven,  and  his  wounds  will  be  bright  as  ver- 
raillion  and  fragrant  as  musk.  Seventyfive  of  the  black -eyed  girls  of 
paradise  will  await  him." 

Mohammed  imbued  his  followers  with  a  spirit  of  blind 
obedience  to  the  pretended  decrees  of  Allah,  as  proclaimed 
by  his  prophet;  and  thus  obtained  an  unbounded  sub- 
mission to  his  orders,  even  when  this  involved  exposure  to 
the  most  threatening  dangers.  He  taught  them  how  to 
fight  desperately,  and  how  to  die  like  Stoics,  calmly 
repeating  the  words:  ''It  was  written."  Then  he  enrap- 
tured them  by  his  eloquence  and  his  promises.  He  allowed 
all  the  enjoyments  of  the  senses  by  legalizing  polygamy; 
and  he  freed  men  from  manual  labor  by  imposing  it  upon 
the  women  and  the  slaves.  He  promised  a  paradise  of 
sensual  pleasures  hereafter,  the  spiritual  paradise  with  the 
Vision  of  God  being  only  for  a  few  select  ones  who  care 
for  it.  Streams  of  milk,  honey  and  wine  roll  their  per- 
fumed waves  in  that  Eden  promised  to  the  poor  children 
of  Arabia's  burning  deserts.  It  is  an  abode  beautiful  with 
gushing  waters,  murmuring  foliage,  golden  couches,  bright 
jewels,  and  full  of  infinite  and  eternal  delectations.  There 
will  be  the  ravishing  songs  of  the  Archangel  Israfil  and  of 
the  innumerable  girls  of  paradise.  Each  "believer"  -will 
have  more  wives  than  on  earth,  and  80,000  servants. 

So  great  was  the  enthusiasm  excited  by  Mohammed 
that  within  ten  years  his  warriors  spread  his  power  over 
the  fairest  countries  of  the  Levant,  and  for  centuries  they 
continued  to  aim  at  universal  conquest.  Not  only  did  his 
system  inflame  the  Arabs  during  his  own  century,  but  also 
the  Seljukian  and  the  Ottoman  Turks  of  later  times.  The 


A  NEW  BARBARISM  THREATENED.  191 

long-continued  warfare  inflicted  upon  the  world  by  Moham- 
med is  divided  into  three  periods:  Arabian,  beginning 
A.  D.  622,  Seljukian,  1000,  and  Ottoman,  1356. 

The  Mohammedans  came  with  the  Koran  in  one  hand 
and  the  sword  in  the  other.  "Die  or  become  a  Mussulman !" 
was  their  watch-word.  They  shed  the  best  blood  of  Asia, 
Africa  and  Europe,  and  drained  away  the  men  and  means 
of  every  nation.  Was  not  that  a  return  to  barbarism? 
Is  it  not  the  custom  of  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest  to 
destroy  every  animal  within  their  reach  ?  And  all  that  for 
the  sake  of  an  impostor !  Did  there  ever  appear  a  greater 
enemy  of  mankind  than  Mohammed  ? 

IV.  SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  DEGRADATION. 

The  very  causes  which  at  first  promoted  the  Moham- 
medan power  assisted  in  the  end  to  hasten  its  overthrow. 

First,  polygamy  and  warfare  drained  its  population, 
which  had  to  be  constantly  replaced  by  foreign  blood. 

Secondly,  Islamism  degrades  woman.  It  questions 
their  immortality,  doubts  their  honor  and  denies  their 
rights.  Women  are  deemed  so  corrupt  that  they  can  never 
go  out  in  public  without  a  veil  covering  their  whole 
person  from  head  to  foot.  As  soon  as  married  they  are 
confined  to  the  harem,  a  part  of  the  house  inaccessible  to 
strangers.  If  the  poorer  women  go  out,  it  is  for  hard 
work  in  the  fields.  Women  are  deemed  so  inferior  to  men 
that  many  doubt  whether  they  have  a  soul.  A  man  can 
have  five  wives  and  as  many  concubines  as  he  pleases. 
He  is  the  absolute  master  of  his  wives ;  he  may  send  them 
away,  he  may  beat  and  even  kill  them,  without  any  fear 
of  the  law,  which  does  not  consider  women. 

Thirdly,  Islam  reestablished  slavery  in  its  worst  forms. 
Not  only  did  it  reduce  to  bondage  the  victims  of  war  and 
piracy ;  but  it  hunted  slaves,  and  still  hunts  them. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Christians  have  been  treacher- 
ously captured  in  the  waters  or  on  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  by  the  Saracens,  the  Moors  and  the 
Turks,  and  transported  as  their  slaves  to  far-off  countries. 
Millions  of  negroes  have  been,  and  are  still  being,  surprised 
in  their  fields  by  invading  bands  of  robbers.  Captured 


192  THE  THREE  AGES. 

and  chained  like  cattle,  they  are  led  to  distant  slave- 
markets  to  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  At  the  present 
time  2,000,000  negroes  are  being  sacrificed  every  year  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Mohammedan  slave-hunters,  who  only 
succeed  in  bringing  one-fourth  of  them  to  the  market,  the 
others  being  killed  in  the  onslaught,  or  dying  on  the  road 
through  the  African  deserts.  Thus  the  Mohammedans 
destroy  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  millions  of  human 
beings  for  the  gratification  of  a  few  brutal  masters. 

Fourthly,  Islam  ruined  the  fairest  countries.  After  its 
warriors  had  conquered  most  of  the  civilized  world  they 
sat  down  to  enjoy  the  spoils,  and  left  all  the  work  to  the 
slaves  and  the  women.  But  unhappy  beings  like  these  do 
not  work  more  than  they  can  help,  and  everything  must 
decline  under  such  a  system.  Agriculture  perished.  The 
immense  works  of  irrigation  which  made  of  the  East  a 
veritable  garden  were  neither  kept  up  nor  repaired,  and 
sooner  or  later  fell  to  ruin.  Fertile  plains  became  barren 
wastes,  filled  with  weeds  and  scrubs,  thistles  and  thorns. 
Trade  and  industry  ceased,  and  piracy  and  plunder  took 
their  place.  Finally  the  religion  of  the  False  Prophet 
choked  learning.  In  the  beginning  the  fierce  Khalif  Omar 
burned  the  400,000  volumes  of  the  Alexandrian  library, 
saying:  " If  they  only  contain  the  doctrines  of  the  Koran 
they  are  superfluous.  If  they  contain  anything  else  they 
deserve  to  be  burnt!"  It  is  true  that  in  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries,  under  the  still-surviving  influence  of  the 
civilizations  that  the  Arabian  hordes  had  overwhelmed 
and  absorbed  in  northern  Africa  and  western  Asia,  the 
Khalifs  of  Bagdad  and  Cordova  favored  letters  in  their 
brilliant  capitals.  In  those  cities  there  arose  flourishing 
schools,  equal  to  those  of  the  Greek  empire,  and  superior 
to  those  of  western  Europe,  then  in  process  of  formation. 
However,  the  Mohammedan  Doctors  could  not  extricate 
their  system  from  the  flagrant  and  degrading  curses  of 
fatalism,  polygamy  and  slavery.  Such  intellectual  activi- 
ties as  manifested  themselves  among  the  followers  of  the 
False  Prophet  were  but  the  last  flickerings  of  the  expiring 
torch  of  civilization,  and  soon  died  away.  By  the  twelfth 
century  the  Catholic  schools  far  eclipsed  those  of  the 


A  NEW  BARBARISM  THREATENED.  193 

Mohammedans  and  the  seat  of  learning  was  transfered  to 
the  Latin  nations.  The  Arabs  made  some  progress  in 
mathematical  and  physical  sciences,  but  they  made  little 
use  of  their  inventions  and  allowed  their  countries  to 
become  barren  and  desert.  As  for  the  introduction  of  the 
" Arabian"  figures,  the  Mohammedans  did  not  invent  them, 
but  merely  borrowed  them  from  the  Hindus. 

Mohammedanism  left  everything  to  perish  around  it 
as  soon  as  the  warrior  spirit  sunk  inert  amid  the  ^enjoy- 
ments of  peace  and  the  pride  of  conquest.  Not  more 
utterly  does  the  burning  simoon  of  the  desert  wither 
every  trace  of  vegetation  than  does  Islamism  parch  every 
germ  of  life  and  prosperity.  Western  Asia  and  Eastern 
Africa  were  changed  under  its  touch  first  into  a  vast 
battlefield,  and  then  into  an  immense  necropolis. 

V.    AMERICA'S  DEBT  TO  THE  CHURCH. 

Two  monster  evils  have  threatened  the  United  States, 
vix.,  slavery  and  Mormonism.  The  negroes  were  driven 
to  the  shores  of  Africa  by  the  Mohammedan  slavehunters, 
and  shipped  to  this  country  as  slaves ;  and  it  cost  us 
millions  of  lives,  billions  of  dollars,  torrents  of  blood  and 
piles  of  ruins  to  abolish  negro  slavery. 

As  for  Mormonism,  it  is  the  Asiatic  plague  of 
polygamy  spreading  its  contagion  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  That  great  scandal  defies  law  and  public 
opinion,  and  thrives  in  this  country  and  in  this  century. 

For  a  thousand  years  has  Islamism  warred  to  forever 
establish  those  evils  in  Europe  and  throughout  the  world. 
For  a  thousand  years  has  the  Catholic  Church  shed  the 
best  blood  of  her  sons  to  repel  these  .twin  degradations, 
and  she  alone  has  saved  Europe  and  America  from  their 
blight.  What  would  America  be  today  if  the  Spaniards 
had  not  expelled  the  Moors  from  Western  Europe,  and  if 
these  fanatics  had  been  left  to  discover  the  New  World? 
The  Catholic  Church  has  protected  the  honor  of  our 
mothers,  the  chastity  of  our  fathers,  and  the  liberty  of 
our  whole  race.  Had  she  never  done  anything  else  but 
relieve  and  preserve  women  from  degradation,  she  would 
still  deserve  the  eternal  gratitude  of  mankind. 

13 


CHAPTER  TWENTYSEVENTH. 
ASSAULT  OF  THE  ARABS. 

The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  you  and  shall  be 
given  to  a  nation  yielding  the  fruits  thereof.    MATTHEW  xxi,  43. 

I.    INSTRUMENTS  IN  GOD'S  HANDS. 

Arabs  strove  (622—1000)  to  subject  the  whole 
world  to  their  yoke.  They  succeeded  against  the 
infidels  and  the  heretics  but  they  failed  against  the  Catho- 
lics. Like  the  Philistines  of  old,  they  were  the  instruments 
of  God  to  punish  or  to  test  the  nations.  They  were  the 
scourge  of  the  misbelievers  and  the  separatists,  and  the 
trial  of  the  faithful  citizens  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

II.    PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  SECTARIES. 

The  Lord  had  manifested  his  greatest  wonders  and 
shed  His  brightest  light  in  the  East.  Yet  tribes  and 
nations  had  closed  their  eyes  before  the  Sun  of  Justice. 
They  had  either  refused  or  perverted  Christianity,  aban- 
doning themselves  to  Paganism,  heresy,  or  schism.  There 
is  only  a  difference  of  degree  between  the  heathens  and 
the  heretics:  the  former  are  total  unbelievers,  the  latter 
are  partial  unbelievers.  But  often  the  second  are  the  more 
guilty,  as  they  apostatize  from  Christ  already  known. 
Similarly,  the  Pagans  simply  neglect  to  recognize  the 
authority  of  the  Yicar  of  Christ,  which  the  schismatics 
have  deliberately  rejected. 

All  those  who  had  turned  their  back  on  the  God-Incar- 
nate were  crushed  to  the  earth  and  reduced  to  dire 
extremity  by  the  fanatical  Mussulmans.  Within  twenty 
years  the  fierce  soldiers  of  the  Koran  subjugated  the  Pagans 
and  Jews  of  Arabia,  Syria,  Palestine,  Persia  and  Berberia. 
In  638  they  captured  Jerusalem.  In  661  they  established 


ASSAULT  OF  THE  ARABS.  195 

their  headquarters  or  Khalifate  at  Damascus,  which  is 
centrally  located  near  the  meeting  point  of  the  three  con- 
tinents of  the  Old  World.  Within  a  hundred  years  they 
had  conquered  all  the  rebel  Christians,  or  heretics,  of  Asia 
and  Africa;  to  wit,  the  Nestorians,  the  Eutycheans  and 
the  Arians.  The  most  obstinate  among  them  were  the 
Egyptian  Monophysites  and  the  Arian  Vandals,  who,  in 
their  spite  against  all  authority,  and  especially  against 
the  Byzantine  Emperor  and  the  legitimate  Patriarchs  of 
Constantinople  and  Alexandria,  helped  to  forge  their  own 
chains.  They  aided  the  Moslems  to  expel  the  Catholic 
Greeks  from  their  territories;  but  they  soon  received  their 
just  reward ;  for  they  were  completely  overpowered  by  the 
armies  of  the  " Prophet,"  and  reduced  to  a  cruel  servitude, 
which  has  never  since  been  broken. 

The  Mohammedan  Empire  stretched  from  the  Himalaya 
Mountains  to  the  Atlantic  ocean.  Before  long  it  was 
divided :  In  750  there  were  separate  Khalifates  at  Cordova 
in  Europe  and  at  Bagdad  in  Asia;  and  in  907  another 
arose  at  Cairo  in  Africa.  This  division  concentrated  the 
Moslem  forces  at  certain  points,  and  infused  new  life  and 
energy  into  the  three  capitals ;  which  were  like  so  many  fresh 
and  permanent  armies  of  occupation,  camped  in  the  three 
continents  to  subdue  them  to  the  religion  of  Mohammed. 

The  Byzantine  Greeks  were  often  in  revolt  against  the 
Catholic  Church,  but  they  were  as  often  molested  by  the 
common  enemy  of  Christendom.  When  the  Heraclean 
Emperors  attacked  the  very  Person  of  Christ,  they  lost 
their  Eastern  provinces  and  were  besieged  in  Constantinople 
for  seven  years.  The  Isaurian  and  Armenian  Emperors 
were  more  intent  on  fighting  the  images  of  the  saints  than 
the  armies  of  the  Mussulmans;  so  that  they  were  often 
beaten,  and  lost  large  territories.  The  Macedonian  dynasty 
had  good  generals,  such  as  Basil  I  and  II  and  the  two 
Phocases,  and  reconquered  some  of  the  lost  provinces. 
But  the  ruin  of  the  Empire  was  prepared ;  its  doom  was 
sealed  when  Photius,  in  857,  and  Cerularius,  in  1053, 
isolated  it  by  schism  from  the  rest  of  Christendom.  God 
seemed  to  have  saved  that  young  empire  from  the  invasion 
of  the  barbarians  of  the  north,  to  make  it  the  bulwark  of 


196  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Christendom  against  the  fanatics  of  the  south.  The  Greeks 
possessed  all  the  vigor  of  a  new  nation  and  all  the  experience 
of  an  old  one ;  and  they  could  have  crushed  the  Mussulman 
monster  in  its  infancy.  Had  the  been  fervent  Christians 
they  \vould  either  have  conquered  the  Mohammedans  or 
converted  them,  as  the  Latins  did  in  the  case  of  the  western 
barbarians.  But  they  neglected  their  task,  and  became  the 
victims  of  their  own  apathy,  as  they  were  enslaved  by 
those  whom  they  might  have  converted  or  assimilated  to 
themselves. 

The  Goths  of  Spain  and  Italy  had  been  bitter  Arians, 
and  although  they  had  been  converted  they  had  as  nations 
to  expiate  their  crime  of  heresy.  Their  peninsulas  were  laid 
waste  and  conquered  by  the  terrible  Mussulmans,  but  their 
doom  was  not  lasting,  and  they  were  able  in  the  end  to 
expel  their  irreconcilable  foes. 

III.    TRIAL  OF  THE  CATHOLICS. 
•1.    Resistance  of  France. 

From  Spain  the  Mohammedans,  under  Abderrhaman,. 
rushed  into  France,  marking  their  course  by  fire  and  blood. 
The  Duke  of  Aquitaine  was  defeated,  and  fled  to  the  Franks. 
Charles  Martel,  the  Frankish  leader,  prepared  for  the  most 
vigorous  resistance.  During  the  summer  of  732  the  Roman 
clarions  and  the  German  horns  kept  alive  the  echoes  of 
Gaul,  and  called  the  warriors  to  the  banks  of  the  Loire. 
A  huge  mass  of  Franks,  Teutons,  and  Gallo-Romans 
gathered  around  Poitiers,  where  Abderrhaman  had  camped. 
The  history  of  the  human  race  hardly  records  a  more 
solemn  moment.  Islamism  stood  "before  the  last  bulwark 
of  Christianity,  the  last  European  army,"  as  a  con- 
temporary chronicler  calls  the  Frankish  hosts.  If  this 
army  falls  the  world  is  Mohammed's. 

Derrea  gives  a  thrilling  description  of  the  battle.  The 
two  armies  watched  each  other  closely.  On  the  one  hand 
were  the  swarthy  Orientals  with  many -colored  turbans, 
white  cloaks,  round  bucklers,  crooked  sabres  and  light 
lances.  On  the  other  the  northern  giants  with  their  bright 
flowing  locks,  their  long  swords  and  their  heavy  battle- 


ASSAULT  OF  THE  ARABS.  197 

horses.  At  length,  on  the  seventh  day,  near  the  end  of 
October,  at  early  dawn,  the  Mohammedans  were  called  to 
prayer,  and  the  signal  was  given  for  the  onset.  The  Berber 
archers  sent  a  hail  of  darts,  and  the  Arab  cavalry  bore 
down  like  a  hurricane  upon  the  Christian  front.  The 
Prankish  lines  never  quailed.  Twenty  times  the  maddened 
Arabs  returned  to  the  charge,  with  the  speed  of  a  thunder- 
bolt. The  northern  warriors  received  them  at  the  points 
of  their  swords,  and  clove  in  two  the  diminutive  sons  of 
the  desert.  At  four  o'clock  the  Christians  turned  the  flank 
of  the  Saracens,  and  fell  upon  their  camp. 

The  wall  of  iron  breaks.  Charles  and  his  Franks  charge 
in  turn,  and  bear  down  all  before  them.  Abderrhaman  and 
the  flower  of  his  host  disappear.  Charles  has  earned  his 
name  of  Martel,  the  Hammer;  for  like  a  hammer  he  has 
crushed  the  power  of  the  Arabs. 

2.    Expulsion  of  Moslems  from  Italy. 

The  Mohammedans  were  the  masters  of  the  Mediter- 
anean,  and  committed  horrible  depradations  on  its  waters 
and  along  its  coasts.  These  awful  pirates  burned  what 
they  could  not  carry  off,  and  took  to  distant  shores  all 
the  persons  and  property  they  could  capture. 

In  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  the  Popes  were  about 
the  only  defenders  of  Italy.  Leo  IV  in  874  fortified  Rome ; 
John  X  (914)  and  Benedict  VIII  (1012)  leagued  the  Italian 
princes  against  the  ever-threatening  enemy.  In  the  middle 
of  the  eleventh  century  the  Norman  knight  Robert  Guiscard 
wrested  from  the  Moslem  yoke  the  beautiful  lands  of  the 
two  Sicilies.  Soon  Italy,  led  by  the  Popes,  stood  in  the 
very  van  of  liberty  and  progress. 

3.    Liberation  of  Spain. 

If  the  Visigoths  of  Spain  had  succumbed  to  Arianism, 
they  atoned  for  it  by  their  heroic  struggle  against  the 
Mohammedans.  When,  in  710,  their  country  was  sub- 
jugated by  the  Mussulmans,  many  Spaniards  sought  shelter 
in  the  mountains  of  Asturia,  under  the  leadership  of  Pela- 
gius.  In  731  Pelagius  was  made  king,  and  established  his 
capital  at  Oviedo.  The  Arabs  sent  him  one  of  their 


198  THE  THREE  AGES. 

generals,  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and  gold  in  the 
other.  The  interpreter  was  the  apostate  bishop  of  Toledo. 
"You  know,"  said  the  renegade,  "that  all  Spain  has  sub- 
mitted to  the  Arabs.  What  can  you  hope  from  a  few 
fugitives  lurking  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains?"  "We 
hope,"  answered  Pelagius,  "that  from  these  mountain  dens 
will  go  forth  the  salvation  of  our  land  which  you  have 
betrayed,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Gothic  empire.  Traitor 
bishop,  go  back  to  the  unbelieving  people  in  whom  you 
trust,  and  tell  them  that  we  fear  not  their  numbers.  After 
punishing  his  faithless  servants,  the  Almighty  will  show 
His  mercy  towards  His  dutiful  children. 

The  gauntlet  was  thrown  down.  Protected  by  their 
mountainous  country,  bands  of  Goths  harrassed  the  Moslems 
constantly.  They  resisted  an  attack  of  100,000  soldiers, 
and  from  their  mountaintops  hurled  60,000  men  into  the 
stream  of  Deva.  The  successors  of  Pelagius  were  the 
warrior-kings  of  Castile,  Aragon  and  Portugal,  and  the 
undaunted  knights  of  St.  lago,  Alcantara,  Calatrava, 
Avis,  St.  John  and  the  Temple,  who  won  back  foot  by 
foot  the  land  of  their  fathers.  Their  whole  lives  were  con- 
secrated to  the  work  of  liberation,  and  their  deeds  equal 
those  of  the  greatest  heroes  the  world  ever  saw. 

In  750  Abderrhaman  I  founded  the  Khalifate  of  Cor- 
dova, which  became  the  most  brilliant  of  tne  Mohammedan 
states.  Cordova  itself  grew  into  a  city  of  1,000,000 
inhabitants,  and  drew,  to  itself  the  learned  men  of  the 
world.  General  Almanzor  won  sixty  six  battles,  and  being 
finally  beaten,  he  starved  himself  to  death  rather  than 
survive  his  disgrace.  On  the  Christian  side  the  Alphonsos 
and  the  Qid  were  still  greater  heroes,  and  they  made  such 
advances  that  they  seemed  to  be  on  the  point  of  driving 
the  Mussulmans  altogether  from  their  Christian  land. 
But  three  times  the  Moors  of  Africa  were  called  against 
them:  The  Moravides,  the  Mohaves  and  the  Merinites. 

The  invasion  of  the  Moravides  was  checked  at  the 
battle  of  Tolosa  (1212)  by  the  Crusade  of  Innocent  III, 
where  Islam  received  a  blow  from  which  it  never  recovered. 
The  cruelty  of  some  of  the  Christian  kings  during  the 
fourteenth  century  retarded  the  hour  of  liberation ;  but  in 


ASSAULT  OF  THE  ARABS.  199 

1492  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  besieged  Granada,  the  last 
Moslem  stronghold,  and  reduced  it  by  famine.  He  then 
instituted  the  Royal  Inquisition,  to  protect  Christian 
Spain  against  the  treachery  of  the  Mohammedans  still 
remaining  on  its  soil. 

4.    Spain  a.  Queen ,  Greece  a.  Slave. 

In  the  seventh  century  the  whole  of  Spain  had  been 
conquered  by  the  Arabs,  who  established  their  strongest 
Khalifate  on  her  soil.  But  her  children  arose  like  lions 
and  gradually  reconquered  their  land.  They  carried  on  an 
implacable  warfare  of  800  years  for  their  God  and  their 
country,  and  formed  a  nation  of  saints  and  heroes.  At 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  they  drove  the  enemy  from 
Granada,  his  last  fortress.  That  same  year  Providence 
gave  them  the  mastery  of  the  New  World.  Assisted  by 
queen  Isabella,  Columbus  discovered  America,  and  Spain 
became  the  first  nation  of  the  world,  and  remained  so  till 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  when  she  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Freemasons,  who  plundered  and  betrayed  her,  and 
reduced  her  to  a  minor  rank. 

The  empire  of  Constantinople  was  the  natural  bulwark 
of  Christianity  against  Mohammedanism,  and  could  have 
crushed  it  in  its  infancy;  or  at  least  have  held  its  armies 
at  bay  until  the  assistance  of  the  Western  crusaders  would 
have  enabled  it  to  drive  the  new  superstition  from  the  face 
of  the  earth.  But  it  preferred  to  fight  against  Catholic 
unity,  and  to  attack  the  very  Vicar  of  Christ.  Yea,  it 
even  made  league  with  the  Crescent  to  thwart  the  soldiers 
of  the  Cross ;  and  thus  it  opened  the  gates  of  Europe  to 
the  fanatical  Turks.  In  1453  Constantinople  was  taken, 
and  within  two  hours  57,000  Greeks  were  made  slaves. 
Far  then  from  being  the  mistress  of  the  world  and  the 
home  of  civilization,  it  became  the  slave  of  Mohammed 
and  the  headquarters  of  barbarism. 


CHAPTER  TWENTYEIGHTH. 
THE  CRUSADES. 

God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.    GALATIANS  vi,  14. 

I.     UNITED  WEST  TAKES  THE  OFFENSIVE. 

powerful  Turkish  peoples  in  turn  gave  new  life 
and  blood  to  Mohammedanism,  and  resumed  the  pro- 
ject of  subduing  Europe  to  its  power :  The  Seljukian  Turks 
in  the  eleventh  century  and  the  Ottoman  Turks  in  the 
fourteenth.  The  former  were  attacked  in  their  headquarters 
in  Asia  and  stopped  there;  the  latter  obtained  a  partial 
success  in  Europe.  When  the  Seljukian  Turks  arose,  the 
Christian  nations  of  Western  Europe  were  just  attaining 
their  youth;  they  were  united  under  the  authority  of  the 
Vicar  of  Christ,  and  they  felt  strong  and  enthusiastic 
enough  to  take  the  offensive  and  to  go  and  attack  the 
threatening  enemy  in  his  own  country.  At  the  call  of  the 
Roman  Pontiffs,  the  Christian  warriors  undertook  eight 
expeditions  into  the  Mohammedan  lands  and  broke  the 
Moslem  power  at  home.  They  even  established  there  two 
Catholic  powers,  which,  however,  were  not  supported  but 
rather  opposed  by  the  separated  Oriental  Christians,  and 
therefore  soon  declined  and  fell.  The  crusaders  succeeded 
in  checking  for  centuries  the  invasions  of  Europe  by  the 
Turks.  They  might  have  crushed  them  forever,  but  for 
the  jealousy  of  the  Greek  Emperors,  who  often  joined  with 
the  infidels  out  of  hatred  for  the  Catholic  name. 

II.     ORIGIN  AND  RESULTS  OF  CRUSADES. 

The  primary  object  of  the  Crusades  was  the  protection 
of  Christian  pilgrims,  and  to  this  end  the  rescue  of  the 
Holy  Places  from  the  Mohammedans.  The  result,  how- 


THE  CRUSADES.  201 

ever,  was  the  defence  and  the  salvation  of  Christendom, 
and  the  great  advancement  of  civilization.  Providence 
made  the  persecutions  of  which  the  Turks  were  guilty  in 
Palestine  serve  to  arouse  the  Christians  to  the  Holy  Wars 
against  their  relentless  foes. 

From  the  earliest  ages  the  land  sanctified  by  the 
presence  of  Our  Lord  was  held  in  pious  veneration,  and 
was  the  object  of  many  pilgrimages.  In  630  the  Arabs, 
in  907  the  Khalifs  of  Cairo,  and  in  1075  the  Seljukian 
Turks,  conquered  Palestine,  and  all  molested  and  tormented 
the  Christians,  the  last-named  especially  being  exceedingly 
cruel.  After  subduing  the  East,  they  established  five  young 
kingdoms  eager  to  expand,  the  most  famous  being  Iconium 
in  Asia  Minor,  Aleppo  in  Syria,  and  Damascus  in  Palestine. 
Constantinople  was  alarmed,  and  sent  a  cry  of  distress  to 
Rome.  The  Italians  were  deaf  to  the  appeal,  and  remained 
insensible  to  the  troubles  of  the  Greeks.  But  Pope  Urban  II 
(1088—1099)  sent  Peter  the  Hetmit  to  France,  the  land 
of  Charles  Martel,  to  describe  the  woes  of  the  Christians 
of  the  East.  He  also  convoked  the  Council  of  Clermont, 
which  was  attended  by  throngs  of  Bishops  and  nobles. 
Peter  the  Hermit,  a  poor  emaciated  priest,  told,  with  a 
sad  countenance  and  a  voice  choked  with  sobs,  the  awful 
tale  of  Mussulman  violence  and  sacrilege. 

"I  have  seen,"  he  exclaimed,  "Christians  ironed  and  put  to  the  yoke 
like  beasts  of  burden.  I  have  seen  the  ministers  of  the  Most  High 
dragged  from  the  sanctuary,  beaten  with  rods,  and  doomed  to  an 
ignominious  death." 

When  the  hermit  had  filled  every  heart  with  emotion, 
the  Pope  arose  and  thrilled  the  warriors  by  a  most 
stirring  speech.  He  told  them  to  stop  their  fratricidal 
combats,  and  to  atone  for  them  by  turning  their  swords 
against  the  enemies  of  Christ. 

"Soldiers  of  hell!"  cried  he,  "be  now  the  champions  of  God.  You 
are  not  to  avenge  the  wrongs  of  men,  but  those  of  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
If  you  triumph,  the  blessings  of  Heaven  and  the  kingdoms  of  Asia  will 
be  yours.  If  you  fall,  you  will  have  the  consolation  of  dying  upon  the 
soil  crimsoned  by  our  Savior's  Blood.  Break  all  earthly  ties.  Remember 
the  words  of  our  Lord:  'Every  one  that  has  left  house,  brethren  and 
sisters,  or  father  and  mother,  or  wife  and  children  for  My  sake  shall 
receive  a  hundredfold  and  possess  live  everlasting'!" 


202  THE  THREE  AGES. 

At  these  words  the  vast  multitude  arose  and  exclaimed, 
as  with  one  voice:  "God  wills  it!  God  wills  it!  God 
wills  it!" 

Three  times  the  enthusiastic  cry  broke  forth  from 
thousands  of  breasts,  and  was  borne  away  upon  the 
breeze  and  resounded  with  lengthened  echoes  from  the  hills 
around.  The  Pope  promised  to  protect  their  properties 
and  their  families  during  their  absence,  and  thousands 
pledged  themselves  on  the  spot  to  go  to  war  in  the  Holy 
Land.  As  a  sign  of  their  vow  they  put  a  red  cross  on 
their  right  shoulder,  whence  they  were  called  crusaders. 
Peter  the  Hermit  passed  on  into  Germany  and  Italy,  and 
there  also  he  created  a  general  enthusiasm  for  the  Holy 
War. 

There  were  eight  general  crusades  to  the  East;  and 
they  were  among  the  greatest  and  most  useful  movements 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  In  the  first  place,  they  procured  the 
crown  of  martyrdom  for  millions  of  heroes.  Then  they 
prolonged  the  life  of  the  Eastern  Empire  for  four  centuries, 
and  saved  Europe  from  a  Seljukian  conquest  and  its 
consequent  degradation.  Finally,  they  exerted  a  great  in- 
fluence for  the  betterment  of  the  politicial  state,  commercial 
relations,  and  the  sciences  and  arts  of  Western  Europe.  The 
Crusades  gave  the  communes  and  the  serfs  a  chance  to 
buy  their  freedom  from  their  lords  and  masters,  who 
needed  money  for  the  distant  expeditions.  They  put  a 
stop  to  the  incessant  wars  between  petty  princes.  They 
united  Euroye  in  one  commonwealth,  under  the  leadership 
of  the  Pope,  blotting  out  a  narrow  and  exclusive  national- 
ism. They  led  to  the  establishment  of  trade  relations 
with  the  Eastern  peoples,  and  brought  to  the  West  their 
treasures  of  science  and  invention.  Says  De  Maistre : 

"We  entered  Asia  sword  in  hand,  in  the  attempt  to  cast  down  upon 
its  own  soil  that  formidable  Crescent  which  threatened  the  liberty  of 
Europe.  A  simple  monk  aroused  all  Europe,  struck  terror  into  Asia, 
broke  down  the  barriers  of  feudal  institutions,  ennobled  the  serf,  brought 
back  the  torch  of  learning  and  changed  the  face  of  Europe!" 

III.    FIRST  CRUSADE. 

In  the  first  enthusiasm  numerous  bands  set  out  with- 
out leaders  and  perished  on  the  road.  The  real  crusade 


THE  CRUSADES.  203 

(1099—1199)  was  led  by  the  most  noble  and  the  most 
renowned  knights  of  Christendom.  Six  hundred  thousand 
men  were  marshalled  under  the  walls  of  Constantinople, 
and  so  frightened  the  Emperor  Alexis  that  his  daughter 
Ann  wrote:  "It  seemed  to  us  as  if  Europe,  torn  from  its 
foundations,  was  hurled  in  its  entirety  upon  Asia."  Alexis 
commenced  to  annoy  the  Crusaders,  and  refused  them 
ships  with  which  to  cross  the  Bosphorus  until  the  promised 
to  turn  over  to  him  all  the  conquests  they  might  make  in 
Asia  Minor.  The  crusaders  defeated  the  Sultan  oflconium, 
and  the  Greeks  followed  to  take  possession  of  the  con- 
quered country,  and  often  betrayed  their  allies  the  cru- 
saders. In  Syria  Baldwin  of  Bouillon  and  Bohemond  of 
Tarento  conquered  Edessa  and  Antioch,  and  became  the 
princes  of  these  cities.  Combats,  famine  and  hardships 
thinned  the  ranks  of  the  army  before  they  reached  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  plague  set  in  and  carried  off  a  great  many. 
There  remained  only  50,000  men,  but  they  were  the  flower 
of  the  Christian  chivalry.  When  they  arrived  on  the  hills 
of  Emmaus,  and  beheld  Jerusalem  afar  off,  glowing  in  the 
rays  of  the  rising  sun,  they  threw  themselves  upon  their 
faces  in  the  dust,  and  kissed  with  respect  the  ground 
sanctified  by  the  footsteps  of  our  Lord;  shouting  the 
watchword  "God  wills  it!  God  wills  it!  God  wills  it!" 

The  infidels  were  prepared  for  a  desperate  resistance, 
and  had  40,000  soldiers  from  Egypt  besides  20,000  belong- 
ing to  Jerusalem.  They  had  filled  the  wells  around  the 
city,  and  turned  the  surrounding  country  into  a  desert. 
The  crusaders  suffered  terribly  from  hunger  and  thirst, 
and  from  the  burning  sun;  but  they  were  relieved  by  the 
arrival  of  the  Genoese  fleet  at  Joppa,  which  brought  plenty 
of  supplies  and  a  number  of  engineers.  These  cut  down 
the  trees  of  a  distant  forest,  and  constructed  moving 
towers  which  were  higher  than  the  ramparts  of  the  enemy 
and  furnished  with  drawbridges  which  could  be  lowered 
upon  the  walls.  After  five  weeks  of  toil  and  fighting  the 
crusaders  prepared  by  a  fast  and  a  procession  for  the  final 
assault.  At  early  dawn  the  Christians  moved  forward 
their  battle  engines;  the  Mohammedans  threw  upon  them 
flashing  torches  and  Greek  fire.  The  storming  lasted  until 


204  THE  THREE  AGES. 

dark,  and  was  recommend  the  following  morning.  From 
their  ramparts  the  Musstilmans  did  not  cease  throwing 
that  unquenchable  Greek  fire,  which  devoured  even  the 
shields  and  corselets  of  the  steelclad  warriors.  Conspicuous 
upon  the  top  of  his  moving  tower  stood  Godfrey  of  Bouillon, 
dealing  death  and  havoc  among  the  Moslems.  Surrounded 
by  a  heap  of  dead  and  dying,  the  hero  calmly  gave  his 
orders  and  encouraged  his  men  by  example,  voice  and 
gesture.  It  was  the  solemn  hour  of  three  o'clock,  at  which 
our  Lord  died.  Suddenly  the  report  spread  that  several  of 
the  crusaders  who  had  fallen  in  preceding  battles  had 
appeared,  and  planted  the  standard  of  the  Cross  upon  the 
ramparts  of  Jerusalem.  The  Christians  charged  with 
renewed  vigor.  Godfre3r's  tower  rolled  on  amid  a  storm 
of  darts,  stones  and  fiery  missiles ;  it  lowered  its  bridge 
upon  the  walls,  whilst  the  Christians  shot  their  burning 
darts  upon  the  bales  of  cotton  and  straw  which  protected 
the  inner  wall  of  the  city.  The  wind  fanned  the  flames, 
and  drove  them  upon  the  infidels,  who  were  stifled  by  the 
fire  and  smoke.  Godfrey,  pressing  closely  behind  Lethaldo 
and  Englebert  of  Tournay,  and  followed  by  the  other 
leaders,  leaped  into  the  city  and  broke  the  Moslem  ranks. 
The  gate  of  St.  Stephen  was  forced,  and  the  crusaders, 
rushing  through  the  streets,  pursued  the  Mussulmans  and 
the  whole  garrison  to  the  sword. 

As  soon  as  victory  was  gained,  the  crusaders,  laying 
aside  their  arms  and  bloodstained  garments  went,  bare- 
footed and  bareheaded,  weeping  and  striking  their  breasts, 
to  the  Sepulchre  of  Our  Lord,  The  true  cross  was  borne  in 
procession  through  the  streets.  At  its  sight  the  Christians 
were  as  much  moved  as  if  they  had  seen  the  Body  of  Christ 
as  it  once  hung  upon  the  same  cross.  The  chiefs  met  to 
elect  a  king  able  to  defend  the  precious  conquest  of  the  holy 
places,  and  they  unanimously  chose  Godfrey  of  Bouillon, 
who  soon  afterward  gained  the  great  battle  of  Ascalon 
against  the  combined  forces  of  Egypt  and  Syria.  The 
crusaders  returned  to  Europe,  and  left  to  the  king  only 
2,000  infantry  and  300  horsemen.  It  was  the  Knights 
Hospitallers  who  formed  his  principal  support.  Unhappily 
he  died  in  the  year  1100. 


THE  CRUSADES.  205 

IV.    LATER  CRUSADES. 

The  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  (1099 — 1270)  was  organized 
tinder  the  feudal  system,  but  its  vassals  were  too  in- 
dependent. It  was  surrounded  by  enemies  on  all  sides. 
Even  the  Greeks  of  Constantinople  warred  on  it  for  thirty 
years,  to  obtain  possession  of  the  principality  of  Antioch, 
which  they  finally  wrenched  from  the  Latins.  The  kings 
of  Jerusalem  were  powerful  for  forty  years.  Baldwin  II 
(1100)  and  Baldwin  III  (1118)  captured  the  old  city  of 
Haran  in  Mesopotamia,  and  the  important  seaports  of 
Acre,  Tripoli  Sidon  and  Tyre.  During  the  minority  of 
Baldwin  IV,  Noureddin  of  Aleppo  took  from  the  kingdom 
the  Eastern  banks  of  the  Jordan.  The  Second  Crusade 
(1147— '49)  brought  400,000  men  to  its  assistance.  But 
it  was  hampered,  on  the  other  hand,  by  the  Greek  Emperor 
Manuel  who  conspired  against  it  with  the  Sultans  of 
Iconium.  Unhappily,  dissension  broke  out  in  Jerusalem,  be- 
tween Guy  of  Lusign an,  recognized  as  King  by  the  Templars, 
and  Conrad  of  Montferrat,  whom  the  Hospitallers  ack- 
nowledged. Saladin,  Sultan  of  Egypt,  attacked  and  slew 
the  Christians  at  Tiberias,  and  took  Jerusalem  in  1187. 

This  sad  intelligence  aroused  the  Christian  princes  to  the 
Third  Crusade  (1189—1192).  The  Emperor  of  Germany, 
Frederic  Barbarossa,  and  the  Kings  of  France  and  England, 
Philip  Augustus  and  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  led  powerful 
armies  to  the  rescue  of  the  Holy  Land,  but  these  great 
princes  were  deceived  and  rendered  powerless  by  the 
duplicity  of  the  Greeks. 

Several  circumstances  diverted  the  Fourth  Crusade 
(1195—1204)  to  Constantinople,  and  led  to  the  well- 
deserved  suppression  of  the  treacherous  empire  of  the 
Greeks,  and  to  the  establishment  of  a  Latin  Empire  at 
Constantinople,  under  Baldwin  of  Flanders,  which  was  to 
serve  as  a  bulwark  against  Mohammedanism.  The  Pope 
protested  against  that  turn  of  affairs  which  took  a  great 
part  of  the  Christian  forces  away  from  the  direct  war 
against  the  infidels. 

The  Greeks  raised  the  insignificant  *  'empires"  of  Nice 
and  Trebizond  against  this  Catholic  state,  and  in  1261 


206  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Michael  Paleologus  took  Constantinople,  and  put  an  end 
to  its  Latin  Empire.  He  returned  to  the  Catholic  Union, 
but  his  son  Andronicus  fell  away  again,  and  hastened  the 
ruin  of  Constantinople  by  isolating  it  anew  from  the  rest 
of  Christendom. 

The  Popes  did  not  cease  to  promote  expeditions 
towards  Jerusalem,  and  succeeded  in  starting  the  Fifth 
Crusade  (1217—1221)  under  Andrew  II  of  Hungary,  and 
the  Sixth,  under  Frederic  II  (1229),  neither  of  which,  how- 
ever, had  any  result. 

The  Seventh  and  Eighth  Crusades  were  undertaken  by 
the  holy  king  of  France  Louis  IX,  the  first  landing  in 
Egypt  (1250)  and  the  second  in  Tunis  (1270).  Both  failed 
on  account  of  the  plague. 

V.     ST.  LOUIS  A  TYPE  OF  CHRISTIAN  CHIVALRY. 

Louis  IX  (1226 — 1270)  was  a  great  saint,  an  eminent 
statesman  and  an  undaunted  hero.  Ascending  the  throne 
at  nineteen,  he  made  peace  with  all  his  neighbors.  He 
alleviated  the  abuses  of  the  feudal  system  by  establishing 
courts  of  appeal,  and  often  dispensing  justice  in  person. 
He  undertook  two  Crusades  against  the  threatening 
Mussulmans.  In  Egypt  he  immediately  took  Damietta, 
but  he  was  stopped  short  in  his  conquest  through  the 
imprudence  of  his  brother  and  the  ravages  of  the  plague, 
and  was  made  a  prisoner  with  his  whole  army.  His 
calmness,  patience  and  fortitude  much  impressed  his 
enemies,  and  Sultan  Malek  offered  him  his  own  daughter 
in  marriage  if  he  would  become  a  Mussulman.  Soon  after, 
the  unfortunate  Sultan  was  murdered,  and  one  of  his 
assassins  tore  out  his  heart  and  held  it  up  to  Louis'  face, 
saying :  " What  wilt  thou  give  me  for  slaying  thine  enemy  ?'' 
The  king  turned  away  his  head  in  silent  horror.  His 
majestic  silence  struck  the  fierce  Moslems  with  such 
admiration  that  they  wished  to  elect  him  Sultan,  and 
were  only  prevented  by  the  fear  of  seeing  their  mosques 
destroyed  by  so  great  a  Christian  prince. 

The  Mongols  at  this  time  were  convulsing  the  whole 
East,  and  driving  great  nations  out  of  their  possessions. 


THE  CRUSADES. 


207 


The  Khorasmian  Turks,  flying  before  them,  had  destroyed 
Jerusalem.  St.  Louis  spent  four  years  among  the  Christians 
of  those  parts,  to  console  and  assist  them,  and  the  Eastern 
princes,  struck  by  his  virtue  and  his  heroism,  chose  him  as 
arbiter  in  their  disputes. 

The  principles  and  the  wars  of  the  False  Prophet  had 
turned  the  whole  East  into  a  battlefield,  a  volcano  in 
eruption,  trembling  with  the  turmoils  of  the  nations. 
The  Christian  West  was  meanwhile  a  field  of  agriculture 
and  industry,  and  a  school  of  arts  and  sciences ;  and  it 
remained  undisturbed  even  during  the  absence  of  its  rulers 
in  the  wars  against  the  infidels. 


CHAPTER  TWENTYNINTH. 
INVASION  OF  OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest 
them  that  are  sent  to  thee,  how  often  would  I  hare  gathered 
thy  children  as  the  bird  doth  her  brood  under  her  wings,  and 
thou  wouldst  not?  Behold  thy  house  shall  be  left  to  thee 
desolate.  LUKB  xin,  34,  35. 

I.     NECESSITY  OF  UNION. 

TTHE  third  period  of  the  war  of  1000  years  was  a  hand  to 
hand  fight  with  the  Ottoman  Turks  for  the  independence 
of  Europe.  Never  did  the  necessity  of  a  united  Christendom 
appear  more  clearly  than  in  this  momentous  struggle.  If 
the  Turks  could  have  attacked  the  Christian  nations  one 
by  one,  they  could  easily  have  conquered  them.  In  fact, 
in  the  fifteenth  century  they  overwhelmed  the  Greeks,  who 
had  isolated  themselves  from  the  rest  of  Christendom ;  but 
they  could  not  subdue  the  united  Catholics  who  defended 
the  Danube.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  when  Protestantism 
had  introduced  division  among  the  Christians  of  the  West, 
the  formidable  Solyman  advanced  into  the  heart  of  Europe, 
but  he  was  driven  away  by  the  great  Emperor  Charles  V. 
For  a  century  and  a  half  longer  they  continued  to  threaten 
and  to  attack  the  Christians  by  sea  and  by  land,  but  they 
were  crushed  by  the  southern  nations  of  Europe,  whom 
the  Popes  had  united  against  them. 

II.    RUIN  OF  SCHISMATIC  GREEKS. 

It  was  to  protect  Europe  which  the  Greeks  left  exposed, 
that  the  Crusaders  established  the  Latin  Empire  of  Con- 
stantinople (1204—1261).  Michael  Paleologus  overthrew 
it,  and  his  successors  relapsed  into  the  schism  from  which 
he  had  emerged. 


INVASION  OF  OTTOMAN  TURKS.  209 

The  Ottoman  Turks  (1300)  were  growing  strong  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  preparing  for  the  conquest  of  Constan- 
tinople. Urkhan  (1327)  formed  the  splendid  army  of  the 
janissaries  out  of  Christian  youths  captured  or  kidnapped 
and  frenzied  by  the  fear  of  discipline  or  the  bait  of  sensual 
pleasures.  In  the  course  of  time  500,000  Christian  children 
were  thus  turned  into  the  most  valiant  soldiers  of  the  false 
prophet.  They  constituted  the  earliest  standing  army  organ- 
ized in  those  times.  In  1356  Urkhan  captured  Gallipoli,  and 
thus  the  Turks  obtained  their  first  foothold  in  Europe.  His 
successor  took  Adrianople,  and  made  it  his  European 
capital;  notwithstanding  the  resistance  of  the  Christians 
along  the  Danube.  The  Sultan  Bajacet  made  a  vow  to 
feed  his  horses  with  oaths  on  the  high  altar  of  St.  Peter's 
in  Rome,  and  he  completely  defeated  a  second  Christian 
army  at  Nicopolis  in  1359.  But  his  progress  was  stopped 
by  the  invasion  of  the  fierce  Mongol  conqueror  Timour 
Lenk,  who  defeated  and  captured  him  at  Ancyra.  A  civil 
war  ensued  between  his  three  sons,  and  further  weakened 
the  Turks.  It  was  the  last  opportunity  for  the  Greeks  to 
crush  their  mortal  enemies,  and  they  did  not  avail  them- 
selves of  it.  Bajacet's  grandson  Murat  II  (1421)  besieged 
Constantinople,  and  took  the  harbors  of  the  Black  Sea. 
He  ascended  the  Danube,  were  the  valient  John  Huniades 
and  Cardinal  Cesarini  repelled  him  from  Belgrade.  His 
son  Mohammed  the  Conqueror  (1441 — 1480)  avenged  this 
repulse  by  the  victory  of  Warna,  where  Cardinal  Cesa- 
rini and  King  Wladislaw  VI  were  slain.  However,  the 
Christians,  having  gathered  a  fourth  army  on  the  Danube 
under  St.  John  Capistran,  twice  defeated  the  formidable 
victor  and  repelled  him  from  Belgrade  (1456).  In  vain 
did  Alohammed  attack  at  Croya  the  undaunted  prince 
Scanderbeg,  who  defeated  him  with  the  aid  of  a  fifth  body 
of  crusaders.  In  vain  did  he  besiege  the  intrepid  Knights 
of  Rhodes,  who,  under  d'Aubuisson,  opposed  the  most 
heroic  resistance.  But  he  succeeded  in  capturing  the  Greek 
capitals  of  Constantinople  (1453),  and  Trebizond  (1462), 
which  achievements  won  him  his  title  of  Conqueror. 

In  1452  Mohammed  had  built  a  large  fortress  on  the 
European  side  of  the  Bosphorus.  The  Greeks  complained, 

14 


210  THE  THREE  AGES. 

and  he  answered  by  a  declaration  of  war.  Constantine  XII 
(1448 — '53)  was  a  true  Christian  Emperor.  In  this  hour 
of  supreme  danger  he  wrote  to  the  Pope  to  implore  his 
help.  Nicholas  V  appealed  to  all  the  Christian  states,  but 
Genoa  and  Venice  alone  responded,  and  they  sent  only 
2500  men.  So  prejudiced  were  the  Greeks  that  the  populace 
insulted  their  friends  from  Italy  who  had  come  to  their 
rescue.  High  Admiral  Notaris  was  heard  to  say  that  he 
would  rather  have  the  Turban  of  Mohammed  at  Con- 
stantinople than  the  Tiara  of  the  Pope.  The  city  hardly 
contained  10,000  soldiers,  while  it  was  besieged  by  300,000, 
by  sea  as  well  as  by  land.  A  formidable  artillery  under 
Mohammed's  personal  direction  thundered  incessantly 
against  the  walls.  The  garrison  answered  by  a  shower 
of  darts,  javelins  and  Greek  fire.  Constantine  XII  was 
always  found  where  the  danger  was  most  threatening. 
He  knew  no  rest.  His  days  were  spent  in  fighting,  and 
his  nights  in  directing  the  workmen  who  repaired  the 
breaches  made  on  the  ramparts.  The  resistance  lasted 
nine  weeks,  and  did  not  seem  to  slacken.  The  harbor  was 
closed  with  a  massive  chain.  Mohammed  hit  upon  a  plan 
of  transporting  his  warships  into  the  port  by  sliding  them 
over  the  obstruction  on  greased  planks.  During  a  single 
night  he  succeeded  in  getting  eighty  ships  into  the  very 
center  of  the  harbor.  The  besieged  were  equally  dismayed 
and  astonished,  and  saw  that  their  end  had  come.  Like 
a  pious  cavalier  Constantine  spent  his  last  night  in  the 
church,  assisted  at  Mass  and  received  Holy  Communion. 
He  exhorted  his  soldiers  to  perish  gloriously  rather  than 
lay  down  their  arms.  He  said :  "The  spirits  of  our  departed 
heroes  look  down  upon  us  at  this  moment.  If  Constan- 
tinople must  fall,  I  shall  find  my  grave  beneath  its  walls." 
Mounting  his  horse,  he  hurried  to  the  fortifications.  It 
was  the  29th  of  May,  1453.  The  immense  Moslem  army, 
uttering  furious  yells,  stormed  the  ramparts,  -and  crushed 
the  handful  of  defenders. 

Constantinople,  falling  for  the  first  time  into  the  hands 
of  the  barbarians,  underwent  all  the  horrors  of  a  furious 
sack  by  savage  enemies.  Its  inhabitants,  to  the  number 
of  100,000,  were  reduced  to  slavery,  massacred,  or  reserved 


INVASION  OF  OTTOMAN  TURKS.  211 

to  exquisite  torments.  Constantine  had  disappeared  in 
the  thick  of  a  melee  on  a  breach.  His  corpse  was  recogn- 
ized and  his  head  cut  off  and  taken  to  Mohammed,  who 
sent  it  as  a  bloody  trophy  to  his  people  in  Asia. 

The  Sultan  claimed  in  the  Church  the  same  rights  as 
those  enjoyed  by  the  emperor :  He  confiscated  all  the  stone 
churches  and  turned  them  into  mosques;  and  he  installed 
a  schismatic  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  willing  to  be  his 
servile  tool  in  place  of  the  lawful  incumbent  of  the  See, 
who  had  returned  to  Catholic  unity  at  the  Council  of 
Florence,  and  who  now  took  refuge  in  the  West. 

Some  distinguished  Greeks  escaped  in  the  Venetian 
galleys,  carrying  with  them  precious  manuscripts  of  the 
classics  and  of  the  Fathers,  and  fine  masterpieces  of  Greek 
art,  with  which  they  enriched  the  Vatican  library  and 
various  Italian  museums.  They  were  welcomed  and  well- 
treated  by  Pope  Nicholas  V;  and  their  knowledge  and 
labors  gave  a  new  impulse  to  art  and  letters.  About  the 
same  time  Guttenberg  invented  the  art  of  printing,  which 
spread  and  perpetuated  the  monuments  of  literature 
through  all  lands  and  ages. 

III.    TRIUMPH  OF  CATHOLIC  EUROPE. 

When  Mahomet  II  took  Constantinople,  he  trans- 
planted the  relentless  battlefield  into  the  heart  of  Christen- 
dom. Europe  trembled,  and  the  Popes  ordered,  that  every 
noon  there  should  everywhere  be  rung  "the  Turkish  bell", 
to  arouse  all  Catholics  to  prayer  or  war  against  the 
advancing  barbarians.  Not  only  did  the  Catholics  resist 
those  most  formidable  of  conquerors,  but  in  the  course  of 
a  century  they  broke  the  Turkish  power. 

From  1522  to  1566  Solyman  the  Magnificent  fought 
against  all  his  neighbors  to  establish  a  universal  empire, 
and  he  personally  conducted  thirteen  expeditions.  What 
increased  the  danger  a  hundredfold  was  the  division  of 
Europe,  and  the  refusal  of  the  Protestants  to  march 
against  the  Turks.  The  Popes  with  the  southern  powers 
alone  had  to  face  the  danger,  but  Christ  watched  over 
His  barque  threatened  by  the  storm,  and,  notwithstanding 


212  THE  THREE  AGES. 

his  military  genius  and  his  fiery  heroism,  Solyman  made 
little  progress  in  his  wars,  whether  in  Europe  or  in  Asia. 

In  Europe  his  attacks  were  first  directed  against  the 
Mediteranean  powers.  The  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John 
were  the  bulwark  of  the  Christians  and  the  terror  of  the 
Mussulmans  in  the  Mediterranean  waters.  Mohammed  II 
had  attacked  them  in  vain  on  their  fortified  island  of 
Rhodes ;  but  in  1522  Solyman  besieged  them,  with  300,000 
men,  and  converted  their  fortress  into  a  heap  of  ruins. 
There  were  only  800  knights  and  4,000  men  at  arms  but 
they  repelled  all  the  Mohammedan  forces  for  six  months 
and  finally  obtaining  an  honorable  capitulation,  retired  to 
Malta,  where  they  constructed  a  new  and  impregnable 
fortress,  and  in  1565  they  again  repelled  the  great  warrior. 

Venice  was  still  predominant  in  the  Mediterranean,  and 
Solyman  engaged  the  famous  pirate  Barbarossa  of  Tunis 
to  break  her  power.  But  Charles  V  sent  a  fleet  which 
captured  Tunis,  the  nest  of  pirates,  and  delivered  20,000 
prisoners.  Solyman  directed  his  most  strenuous  efforts 
against  Hungary,  where  he  excited  civil  wars,  and  against 
Austria,  where  Protestant  bitterness  welcomed  and  assisted 
him.  He  undertook  six  expeditions  into  Hungary.  In  the 
first  he  killed  king  Louis  II  and  raised  to  the  throne 
Zapolya,  a  prince  of  Transylvania.  But  the  nobles  elected 
a  brother  of  Charles  V,  Ferdinand,  who  had  married 
Louis'  sister,  and  who  expelled  the  Turkish  pretender. 
Solyman  again  invaded  Hungary.  Profiting  by  the  fury 
of  the  Protestants,  whose  motto  was  ''Rather  Turks  than 
Papists!"  and  the  jealousy  of  the  kings  of  France,  who 
were  desirous  of  humiliating  the  house  of  Hapsburg,  he 
was  able  to  penetrate  into  the  heart  of  Europe  and  besiege 
Vienna.  When  the  valiant  Emperor  Charles  V  was  free 
from  his  other  enemies,  he  marched  against  the  Turks. 
But  Solyman  did  not  care  to  meet  the  foremost  hero  of 
Christendom.  He  retreated  to  Constantinople,  and  recog- 
nized Ferdinand  as  king  of  the  half  of  Hungary  still 
remaining  in  Christian  hands.  Ten  years  later  a  new  con- 
test for  the  throne  ensued,  and  furnished  him  another  pre- 
text for  invading  Hungary,  which  he  almost  turned  into  a 
desert.  He  died  while  besieging  the  little  town  of  Sigeth. 


INVASION  OF  OTTOMAN  TURKS.  213 

The  Turks  were  very  powerful  in  the  Mediterranean 
and  wrested  from  Venice  the  island  of  Cyprus,  which  they 
cruelly  devastated.  The  holy  Pope  Pius  Y  preached  a 
Crusade  against  the  infidels,  and  ordered  the  recitation  of 
the  beads  all  through  Christendom  to  pray  for  its  success. 
He  enlisted  the  mighty  republic  of  Venice,  and  Philip  II, 
the  powerful  king  of  Spain,  and  committed  to  Philip's 
half  brother,  Don  Juan  of  Austria,  the  combined  forces  of 
the  southern  states.  The  two  fleets  met  in  the  Gulf  of 
Lepanto,  and  gave  battle  on  the  seventh  of  October,  1571. 
The  Turkish  commander  fell,  his  head  was  cut  off  and 
displayed  on  a  Christian  mast,  and  that  fired  the  courage 
of  the  crusaders,  who  annihilated  the  infidel  fleet.  St.  Pius 
knew  of  the  victory  by  a  vision,  and,  interrupting  a 
conference  with  the  Cardinals,  he  told  them  there  was 
occasion  to  render  thanks  to  God  for  a  signal  victory. 
He  instituted  the  feast  of  the  Holy  Rosary,  to  com- 
memorate the  happy  event,  and  added  to  the  Litany  of 
Loretto  the  invocation:  "Marv,  Help  of  Christians,  pray 
for  us." 

After  the  thirty  Years'  War  had  exhausted  Germany, 
Kara  Mustapha  gathered  an  army  of  300,000  Mussul- 
mans and  besieged  Vienna  (1682).  The  Emperor  Leopold 
and  his  court  fled.  There  where  left  in  the  city  50,000 
soldiers  who,  assisted  by  the  inhabitants,  made  a  vigorous 
resistance.  Fortyfive  days  of  siege  exhausted  them,  and 
Vienna,  the  rich  capital  of  Eastern  Europe,  seemed  doomed 
to  plunder  and  destruction.  Pope  Innocent  XI  summoned 
Sobieski,  the  valiant  king  of  Poland,  to  the  help  of  the 
distressed  city.  The  hero  appeared  on  the  mountains  with 
20,000  Poles.  His  troops  were  ill-clad  and  poorly  equipped. 
"Do  you  see  those  men?"  said  the  king;  "They  have 
sworn  to  clothe  themselves  with  the  spoils  of  the  enemy." 
"If  these  words,"  said  a  chronicler,  "did  not  clothe  his 
soldiers,  they  armored  them !"  In  the  morning  Sobieski 
and  his  officers  assisted  at  the  Holy  Mass  celebrated  by 
the  Papal  Nuncio,  and  the  king  served  it  himself,  kneeling 
down  and  extending  his  arms  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  At 
ten  o'clock  he  gave  the  signal  for  battle.  After  a  fight  of 
three  hours,  he  saw  the  enemy  wavering,  and  ordered  a 


214  THE  THREE  AGES. 

charge.  A  fearful  hand-to-hand  fight  followed.  At  five 
the  Turks  broke  their  ranks  and  fled  in  utter  rout.  At 
nightfall,  of  all  the  besieging  army  only  20,000  corpses 
were  left  to  guard  the  walls  of  the  city.  The  Turks  fled 
so  precipitately  that  they  left  behind  them  100,000  tentsr 
300  pieces  of  artillery,  and  5,000  barrels  of  gunpowder. 
The  following  day  Sobieski  was  received  in  triumph,  and 
the  mothers  held  up  their  children  that  they  might  behold 
their  saviour.  He  himself  intoned  the  Te  Deum,  which  was 
chanted  by  the  whole  people.  Then  he  sent  to  the  Pope 
the  standard  taken  from  the  enemy,  with  the  famous 
words  of  Caesar,  altered,  from  humility,  into  Veni,  vidi, 
Deus  vicitl  "I  came,  I  saw,  God  conquered."  By  this  act 
of  homage,  he  expressed  the  gratitude  of  Christendom  to 
the  Roman  Pontiffs  for  saving  it  from  the  galling  yoke  of 
the  Moslems.  Then  the  Popes  leagued  Poland,  Austria 
and  Venice  against  the  Turks,  who  were  thus  thwarted 
forever  in  their  plans  against  Christian  Europe. 

IV.    THE  CHURCH  ALONE  SAVED  CIVILIZATION. 

The  Catholics  alone  fought  and  defeated  the  enemies  of 
Christian  civilization.  In  the  fearful  onslaught  of  the 
Ottoman  Turks,  not  only  did  the  Protestants  not  stand 
up  for  the  name  of  Christ,  but  they  revolted  against  his 
standardbearer,  the  noble  Charles  V,  and  leagued  with  the 
Moslems.  It  had  been  the  same  story  in  the  struggle 
against  the  Seljukian  Turks  and  the  Arabs;  The  Greek 
schismatics  did  not  cooperate,  and  the  Catholics  had  to 
do  all  the  hard  fighting.  They  alone,  the  firm  and  faithful 
believers,  appreciated  Christianity  as  the  greatest  boon  of 
mankind,  and  therefore  they  were  ready  to  sacrifice  their 
fortunes  and  their  lives  for  its  defence.  They  alone  preserved 
their  freedom,  their  manhood  and  their  virtue;  to  them 
alone  is  due  our  superior  civilization. 


THE  MODERN  AGE 


A.  D.  J5J7-J899 


FROM  LIBERALISM  TO  LIBERTY. 


THE  MODERN  AGE 

A.  D.  J5J7— J899 
FROM  LIBERALISM  TO  LIBERTY. 


CHAPTER  THIRTIETH. 
THE  KEY  TO  MODERN  HISTORY. 

Simon  son  of  John,  lovcth  thou  Me?  Yea,  Lord,  thou 
knowest  that  I  love  Thee.  .  .  .  Feed  My  lambs.  .  .  .  Feed  My 
lambs.  .  .  .  Feed  My  sheep.  JOHN  xxi,  15 — 17. 

I.     THE  ENEMIES  OF  LIBERTY. 

Liberals  concede  that  the  Catholic  Church  has  been 
useful  in  converting  the  pagans  and  civilizing  the 
barbarians;  but  they  pretend  that  in  our  enlightened  age 
she  is  an  obstacle  to  liberty  and  progress. 

They  claim  that  human  reason  left  to  itself  would 
invent  new  and  superior  forms  of  religion  and  society; 
and  bring  a  hitherto  inexperienced  felicity  to  our  planet. 
Therefore  they  wish  to  free  mankind  from  the  yoke  of 
Christ  and  His  Church,  and  to  make  a  religion  of  their 
own,  replacing  the  commandments  of  God  by  the  traditions 
of  men.  In  the  name  of  liberty  they  force  their  schemes 
upon  others,  whom  they  trouble  and  disturb;  and  they 
simply  return,  in  short,  to  the  despotism  and  impiety  of 
Pagan  times. 

Liberalism  aims  at  emancipation  from  the  authority 
of  God.  It  is  an  abuse  of  liberty.  It  means  tyranny  and 
license  for  the  masters,  and  slavery  and  corruption  for  the 
masses.  The  Liberals  contravene  the  freedom  of  others, 
and  compel  them  to  adopt  their  subversive  and  corrupting 


220  THE  THREE  AGES. 

systems.  The  Liberals  in  religion  are  the  Protestants ;  the 
Liberals  in  politics  are  the  Freemasons.  The  former  forced 
the  people  into  a  new  and  man-made  form  of  Christianity 
and  drove  them  into  doubt  and  apostasy.  The  latter 
overthrew  the  Christian  institutions  dear  to  the  people, 
whom  they  trust  into  impiety  and  anarchy.  The  most  im- 
portant factors  in  modern  history  are  the  plots  and  wars 
of  the  Liberals  against  the  liberty  of  conscience  of  the 
Catholics,  and  the  hopeless  decline  of  those  peoples  which 
they  succeeded  in  seducing  or  subduing.  Armed  resistance 
was  the  only  means  of  adequately  safeguarding  liberty, 
religion  and  virtue.  But  the  peaceful  Catholics  were  not 
soon  enough  aware  of  this  fact.  It  was  only  after  Protes- 
tantism had  been  forced  upon  the  north  of  Europe  that 
the  Catholics  realized  the  tyrannical  designs  of  the  apostates 
and  took  up  arms  in  defence  of  their  religious  liberty ;  and 
thenceforth  not  a  single  additional  nation  lost  the  true 
faith. 

It  is  now  more  than  a  century  that  the  Freemasons 
have  been  committing  the  greatest  outrages  against  the 
Christian  society,  and  they  are  still  tramplicg  the  Catho- 
lics under  their  feet;  because  the  faithful  could  not  believe 
that  there  existed  a  Satanic  conspiracy  against  the  Church 
of  God,  and  did  not  organize  against  its  daring  machi- 
nations. The  facts  show  that  the  full  truth  of  Christianity, 
which  made  us  free,  can  alone  keep  us  free  in  the  future. 

II.     LIBERALISM  IN  RELIGION. 

Nothwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Bishops  of  Rome 
had  converted  the  old  world  to  Christ,  and  were  sending 
armies  of  missionaries  to  the  new,  Luther,  Calvin  and 
Henry  VIII  called  them  the  very  Antichrists,  who  had 
usurped  all  the  authority  they  exercised  and  filled  Christi- 
anity with  superstition  and  corruption.  While  thundering 
against  Papal  authority,  they  made  themselves,  so  far  as 
in  their  power,  the  autocrats  of  their  respective  countries, 
and  forced  the  people  into  their  sects.  They  succeeded  as 
long  as  the  Catholics  tamely  submitted  to  their  despotism, 
and  failed  as  soon  as  these  stood  up  to  defend  their  liberty 


THE  KEY  TO  MODERN  HISTORY. 


221 


of  conscience.  The  rise  of  Protestantism  was  the  signal 
for  terrible  religious  wars,  as  well  as  for  a  return  to  the 
arbitrary  government  of  the  Pagan  Emperors. 

The  Protestants  professed  a  desire  to  reform  the  Church, 
but  they  deformed  it.  They  attempted  to  remodel  the  work 
of  Christ,  but  the  destroyed  it  wherever  the3r  had  the  power. 
They  advanced  the  new  theory  that  Christ  saves  us  by 
Himself  directly  without  any  cooperation  on  our  part  and 
without  secondary  instrumentalities  ;  and  that  he  instituted 
no  Church  to  teach  and  sanctify  his  followers.  According 
to  them  our  nature  is  utterly  corrupted  by  original  sin 
and  so  remains,  and  we  are  saved  by  an  exterior  im- 
putation of  the  merits  of  Christ  without  any  real  trans- 
formation. Their  principles  of  private  interpretation  of 
the  Bible,  and  of  salvation  by  faith  without  good  works, 
led  in  practice  not  only  to  false  belief  on  other  points 
but  also  to  vicious  life.  In  fact  the  "Reformers"  them- 
selves bitterly  complained  of  the  disputes  and  the  vices  of 
their  followers.  Faith  was  replaced  by  doubts,  and  duty 
by  pleasure. 

Having  fallen  away  from  our  only  Savior  Jesus  Christ, 
the  'new  heresiarchs  brougt  back  into  Christianity  three 
wicked  systems,  which  had  existed  in  Paganism :  Luther  a 
lax  Epicureanism,  Calvin  a  harsh  stoicism,  and  Henry  VIII 
a  despotic  Caesarism.  But  there  was  nothing  to  sustain 
the  human  substitutes  for  the  Church  of  God.  The  separ- 
ated peoples  were  soon  rent  into  innumerable  sects,  which 
passed  through  the  most  amazing  doctrinal  transform- 
ations and  yieled  an  immense  crop  of  indifferentism  and 
infidelity. 

At  the  present  day  there  are  among  the  Protestants 
many  pious  and  learned  men,  who  are  the  innocent  victims 
of  the  crimes  of  their  forefathers,  and  who  make  every 
fort  possible  for  the  propagation  and  defence  of  those 
igments  of  the  Gospel  which  they  have  chanced  to  retain. 
But  neither  the  earnestness  of  the  members  of  these  bodies, 
tor  the  zeal  of  their  officers,  nor  doctrinal  concessions, 
tor  perfection  of  organization,  nor  novelty  in  services,  nor 
msationalism  in  preaching,  nor  lavishness  in  expenditure 
keep  them  together.  They  have  lost  their  hold  upon 


222  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  masses  of  the  people  and  their  doctrinal  systems  are 
being  dissolved  under  the  influence  of  a  shallow  and  un- 
reasoning sentimentalism,  so  that  such  fundamental 
Christian  truths  as  they  at  first  retained  have  in  too 
much  cases  already  disappeared  in  all  but  in  name. 

The  self-appointed  Reformers  had  questioned  every- 
thing without  settling  anything.  But  the  Bishops,  the 
Divinely-appointed  judges  of  faith,  studied  and  deliberated 
on  the  reformation  of  the  Church  for  half  a  century.  The 
Council  of  Trent  (1545— '63)  examined  the  questions  of 
doctrine  and  discipline  raised  by  the  new  sectaries,  and 
decided  them  as  seemed  fit  to  the  Holy-Spirit  of  God,  Who 
never  iails  to  preside  over  the  Councils  of  His  Church.  It 
declared  the  prerogatives  and  functions  of  the  ecclesiastical 
Hierarchy  to  be  grounded  on  the  Word  of  God  and  defined 
them  as  articles  of  faith.  It  also  decreed  many  sa!utary 
reforms,  such  as  the  erection  of  more  seminaries  for  the 
training  of  priests,  and  closer  attention  to  the  personal 
care  of  the  Christian  flock  by  the  pastors. 

There  at  once  ensued  an  extraordinary  revival  of  piety 
and  learning,  and  a  burning  apostolic  zeal  for  the  con- 
version of  the  heathen.  If  Luther  had  sworn  death  to  the 
Roman  Pontiffs,  St.  Ignatius  instituted  the  Society  of  Jesus- 
to  defend  them.  Twenty  other  orders  arose.  At  least 
twentyseven  great  saints  who  have  the  honor  of  a  public 
cultus  flourished  at  that  time.  St.  Francis  Xavier  con- 
verted a  million  people  in  the  East,  and  armies  of 
missionaries  penetrated  into  the  wilds  of  the  New  Worlds. 
The  losses  in  Europe  were  repaired  by  the  gains  in  Asia 
and  America. 

III.    LIBERALISM  IN  POLITICS. 

The  apostasy  of  the  Protestants  from  the  Church  of 
Christ  led  logically  to  the  complete  rejection  of  the  very 
name  of  Christ.  Protestantism  was  the  first  step  towards 
our  Neo-Paganism. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  infidelity 
commenced  to  show  itself  in  England.  It  was  introduced 
on  the  continent  and  spread  all  over  Europe  by  the 
sophists,  Voltaire,  Rousseau  and  their  associates.  The 


THE  KEY  TO  MODERN  HISTORY.  223 

infidels  overthrew  all  the  restraints  of  authority,  family 
and  property,  for  the  benefit  of  outlaws,  lechers  and 
thieves  who  proceeded  to  make  themselves  masters  of  the 
power,  the  youth  and  the  riches  of  a  great  part  of  Christen- 
dom. They  combined  in  the  secret  society  of  the  Free- 
masons to  force  their  schemes  upon  an  unsuspecting  and 
unwilling  people.  By  their  dark  machinations  they  had 
by  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  gained  control  of 
the  governments  of  most  of  the  Catholic  countries. 
Immediately  they  contrived  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits, 
who  were  at  that  time  the  foremost  educators  of  youth; 
and,  occupying  their  colleges,  they  raised  up  a  generation 
ready  for  every  crime. 

In  1789  the  Freemasons  commenced  the  frightful 
French  Revolution,  which  slaughtered  every  one  suspected 
of  not  being  an  infidel  and  a  republican.  The  sword  was 
far  too  slow  for  these  bloodthirsty  monsters ;  the  guillotine, 
that  quick  instrument  of  execution,  was  invented,  and  in 
many  places  was  almost  constantly  in  use;  and  all  that 
in  the  name  of  liberty ! 

During  the  nineteenth  century  the  Freemasons  con- 
centrated their  action  on  the  Catholic  lands,  where  religion 
is  strong.  Aided  by  the  gold  of  the  Protestants  and  the 
Jews,  they  undermined  the  prosperity  of  these  countries 
and  ruined  them  morally  and  physically.  They  flooded 
them  with  obscene  and  irreligious  writings,  and  fomented 
or  occasioned  in  most  of  them  a  series  of  disastrous 
revolutions.  With  the  words  ''liberty,"  "equality"  and 
"fraternity"  always  on  their  lips,  the  Freemasons  were 
nevertheless  the  worst  of  masters.  They  confiscated  for 
their  own  benefit  the  property  consecrated  to  religion 
and  charity  which  was  the  patrimony  of  the  poor,  and 
never  thought  of  the  poor  except  to  grind  them  down. 
The  people  revolted  against  these  selfish  tyrants,  and 
claimed  their  due  share  of  the  goods  of  this  earth.  The 
"International  Society  of  the  workingmen  of  the  world" 
was  founded  in  London  for  the  defense  of  the  starving 
people  against  their  Godless  masters.  The  Russian  nihilists 
•demanded  the  destruction  of  the  actual  order  of  society. 
The  French  communists  tried  to  level  Paris  and  to  destroy 


224  THE  THREE  AGES. 

her  monuments.  These  and  their  fellow-revolutionists  the 
world  over  threaten  more  destruction  than  the  Huns  and 
the  Vandals  accomplished  in  the  fifth  century. 

The  Freemasons  struck  their  heaviest  blows  against 
the  Papacy.  The  Revolution  killed  Pius  VI;  Napoleon 
chained  Pius  VII,  and  Victor  Emmanuel  robbed  Pius  IX. 
They  hoped  to  forever  silence  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  The 
Vatican  Council  proclaimed  the  Roman  Pontiffs  infallible 
in  all  definitions  of  faith  and  morals.  The  Freemasons 
grew  still  more  fierce;  but  the  Catholic  population  clung 
closer  than  ever  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ. 

Why  did  Providence  allow  the  oppression  of  the 
Christians  to  such  a  degree?  First,  because  many  had 
turned  their  backs  upon  Christ.  Let  them  taste  the  bitter 
fruits  of  their  apostasy,  and  they  will  grow  disgusted  with 
their  folly  and  crime.  Secondly,  because  many  Catholics 
do  not  have  a  thorough-going  loyalty  to  the  Vicars  of 
Christ  or  the  courage  to  stand  up  for  their  own  con- 
victions. As  soon  as  they  arise  to  defend  their  faith,  like 
the  Maccabees  of  old,  they  will  reconquer  their  liberty 
and  their  prosperity.  The  Catholics  of  Germany  compelled 
the  ultra-Protestant  Empire  of  Bismarck  to  grant  them 
liberty  of  worship.  Leo  XIII  bade  the  Catholic  laymen  to 
stand  up  for  their  religious  rights,  to  unite  in  national 
societies  and  to  meet  in  international  congresses  in  order 
to  revindicate  their  liberty  against  the  handful  of  Free- 
masons who  are  trampling  them  under  their  feet. 

The  confusion  and  failure  of  Liberalism,  and  the  justice, 
harmony  and  solidity  of  the  Church  of  God  are  symbolized 
by  the  tower  of  Babel  and  the  Church  of  St.  Peter.  After 
the  flood,  men  took  upon  themselves  to  rear  an  immense 
tower  as  a  protection  against  anothen  similar  punishment. 

"They  said:  Come,  let  us  make  a  city  and  a  tower,  the  top  of  which 
may  reach  to  heaven;  and  let  us  make  our  name  famous.  .  .  .  And  the 
Lord  said :  Let  us  confound  their  tongue,  that  they  may  not  understand 
one  another's  speech.  .  .  .  Therefore  the  name  thereof  was  called  Babel, 
because  there  the  language  of  the  whole  earth  was  confounded." 
Genesis  xi,  4,  7,  9. 

Thus  God  punished  their  pride,  brought  to  naught 
their  foolish  undertaking,  and  scattered  them  over  the  face 
of  the  earth.  When  the  Catholic  Church  had  made  the 


THE  KEY  TO  MODERN  HISTORY.  225 

Western  world  like  one  grand  temple  of  God  and  one 
peaceful  home  of  man,  her  Pontiffs  erected  at  Rome  the 
incomparable  church  of  St.  Peter's  of  the  Vatican,  as  a 
monument  of  her  piety  and  a  center  of  her  unity.  But  lo! 
a  cry  of  revolt  was  heard  in  the  north,  and  the  Popes 
were  denounced  as  the  perverters  of  Christianity  and  the 
most  criminal  of  usurpers.  The  Protestants  stood  up 
against  the  Church  of  Christ  and  the  Freemasons  openly 
warred  against  Christ  Himself.  Without  any  authority 
from  above  or  any  justification  in  history  or  right  reason, 
one  attempted  to  form  a  new  Christian  religion  and  the 
other  to  establish  a  Godless  society.  Foolish  revolt !  Vain 
efforts !  Impossible  undertakings !  Jesus  Christ  has  founded 
His  Kingdom  on  the  rock  of  St.  Peter,  and  promised  that 
the  gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it;  and  He 
laughs  at  their  rage,  frustrates  their  efforts,  and  disconcerts 
their  plans.  He  throws  the  utmost  of  confusion  into  their 
ranks;  so  that  what  they  advance  today  they  contradict 
tomorrow.  However  united  they  are  against  the  Divine 
Church,  they  are  hopelessly  divided  in  their  principles  and 
their  projects,  while  each  of  the  sects  strives  to  build 
itself  up  at  the  expense  of  its  rivals.  As  unshaken  as  the 
basilica  of  St.  Peter  stands  on  the  Vatican  hill  in  defiance 
of  the  fiercest  storms,  so  unshaken  remains  the  Church  of 
God  in  the  midst  of  the  warring  sects  and  of  the  con- 
vulsions of  society  produced  by  the  Freemasonic  lodges. 

IV.     LEO  XIII  ON  TRUE  AND  FALSE  LIBERTY. 

As  the  Freemasons  pose  as  the  champions  of  liberty 
and  call  the  Church  of  Christ  the  tyrant  of  consciences, 
Leo  XIII  has  issued  several  Encyclicals  to  show  that  the 
Church  favors  the  liberty  of  every  one,  while  the  Lodge 
seeks  to  monopolize  all  the  liberty  for  its  oathbound 
members.  He  expounds  the  notion  of  true  liberty  (1888) 
and  reviews  the  efforts  of  the  Church  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery  (Briefs  to  the  Bishops  of  Brazil  and  Cardinal 
de  Lavigerie).  He  proves  that  Freemasonry  (1884),  divorce 
and  communism  (1878  and  1881)  involve  an  unjust  dis- 
regard of  the  rights  of  God  and  man,  and  he  shows  how 
the  plotting  lodges  impose  by  the  fire  and  sword  their 

15 


226  THE  THREE  AGES. 

ruinous  and  impious  systems,  which  necessarily  lead  to 
impiety,  impurity  and  anarchy.  These  luminous  and 
irrefutable  documents  are  mines  of  reliable  information  on 
the  great  questions  of  today,  and  ought  to  be  in  the  hands 
of  every  Christian. 

In  his  Encyclical  on  Liberty,  Leo  XIII  distinguishes 
between  physical,  moral  and  legal  liberty,  and  he  describes 
the  benefits  of  a  duly -regulated  freedom,  in  contrast  with 
the  evils  of  an  absolute  lawlessness.  Here  are  a  few  of 
his  thoughts  and  words. 

"Liberty  is  the  highest  gift  of  nature.  It  was  always  cherished  by 
the  Church,  who  defended  it  against  the  Manicheans,  the  Protestants, 
the  Jansenists,  the  Freemasons  and  the  Fatalists." 

"Physical  liberty  is  the  faculty  of  choosing  means  for  the  end  proposed  ; 
for  he  only  is  master  of  his  actions  who  can  choose  one  thing  out  of 
many." 

"Moral  liberty  here  is  exemption  from  the  law  of  God :  it  is  freedom 

to  act  wrongly,  and  it  is  nothing  but  an  abuse  of  liberty Just  as 

the  possibility  of  error  and  actual  error  are  defects  of  the  mind  and 
attest  its  imperfection ;  so  the  pursuit  of  a  merely  apparant  good  implies 
a  defect  in  human  liberty.  The  possibility  of  sinning  is  not  freedom  but 
slavery.  'Whosoever  committeth  sin  is  the  slave  of  sin.'  John  vm,  4." 

Legal  liberty  is  the  allowance  by  law  of  some  questionable  actions, 
for  the  sake  of  the  general  good.  The  Church  allows  all  possible  toleration 
of  the  modern  liberties  of  conscience  and  worship,  speech  and  education. 
"There  is  no  form  of  government  nor  any  effort  for  true  liberty  that  is 
forbidden  by  the  Churh.  As  for  tolerance,  it  is  surprising  how  far 
removed  from  the  justice  and  the  prudence  of  the  Church  are  those  who 
profess  what  is  called  Liberalism/'  However,  the  Church  cannot  recognize 
the  moral  right  to  deny  God  and  to  teach  evil,  which  is  an  insult  to  the 
Almighty  and  a  scandal  to  His  people. 

"The  laws  of  the  Gospel  not  only  far  surpass  the  wisdom  of  the 
heathen,  but  are  an  invitation  and  an  introduction  to  a  state  of  holiness 
unknown  to  the  ancients;  and,  by  bringing  man  nearer  to  God,  they 
make  him  at  once  the  possessor  of  a  more  perfect  liberty.  Thus  the 
powerful  influence  of  the  Church  has  ever  been  manifested  in  the  custody 
and  protection  of  the  civil  and  political  liberty  of  the  people.  Slavery, 
that  old  reproach  of  the  heathen,  was  mainly  abolished  by  the  efforts 
of  the  Church.  The  impartiality  of  law  and  the  brotherhood  of  man 
were  first  asserted  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Apostles  reechoed  His  voice 
when  they  declared  that  there  was  neither  Jew  nor  Gentile,  nor  barbarian 
nor  Scythian,  but  all  where  brothers  in  Jesus  Christ.  Savage  customs 
are  no  longer  possible  in  any  land  where  the  Church  has  once  set  her 
foot ;  gentleness  speedily  takes  the  place  of  cruelty  and  the  light  of  truth 
quickly  dispels  the  darkness,  of  barbarism." 


THE  KEY  TO  MODERN  HISTORY.  227 

"In  civilized  nations  the  Church  resisted  the  tyranny  of  the  wicked, 
protected  the  innocent  and  the  helpless  from  injury,  and  supported  the 
government." 

"But  there  are  many  who  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Lucifer,  and 
adopt  as  their  own  his  rebellious  cry:  I  will  not  serve!  and  consequently 
substitute  for  true  liberty  what  is  sheer  license.  Such  are  the  men  who, 
iisurping  the  name  of  liberty,  call  themselves  'Liberals'.  They  deny  the 
existence  of  any  Divine  authority  to  which  obedience  is  due,  and  proclaim 
that  every  man  makes  his  own  law ;  whence  arises  that  ethical  system 
which  they  style  'independent  morality'  and  which,  under  the  guise  of 
liberty,  exonerates  man  from  any  obedience  to  the  commands  of  God  and 

substitutes  a  boundless  license If  the  determination  of  right  and 

wrong  is  at  the  merey  of  the  majority,  it  is  simply  a  downward  path 
to  license  and  anarchy." 

IP 


CHAPTER  THIRTYFIRST. 
LAX  PROTESTANTISM. 

Such  false  apostles  are  deceitful  workmen,  transforming 
themselves  into  the  apostles  of  Christ.  And  no  wonder,  for 
Satan  himself  transformeth  himself  into  an  angel  of  light;  there- 
fore it  is  no  great  thing  if  his  ministers  be  transformed  as  the 
ministers  of  justice.  II  CORINTHIANS  xi,  13 — 15. 

I.     LUTHER  A  SECOND  MOHAMMED. 

TUTHER  has  been  represented  as  the  savior  of  liberty 
and  religion.  "Did  he  not  deliver  Europe  from  the 
yoke  of  the  Popes  and  the  superstitions  of  an  idolatrous 
worship?  Did  he  not  restore  the  pure  religion  of  the 
Gospel?"  The  great  historians  of  our  day  proclaim  that 
he  inaugurated  an  unbearable  despotism  and  a  fearful 
decline  of  faith  and  morals.  Luther  himself  claimed  more 
authority  than  any  Pope  ever  did,  and  caused  more  harm 
to  Christendom  than  it  ever  suffered  before;  as  can  be 
sufficiently  proven  by  his  own  statements  in  his  published 
works  (partially  collected  in  pamphlet  form  by  Rev.  J.  F. 
X.  O'Connor,  S.  J.).  His  principles  have  weakened  or 
annihilated  faith  in  Christ,  and  destroyed  the  fear  of  the 
Lord ;  they  have  torn  Christendom  to  pieces  and  let  loose 
the  passions  of  men.  There  are  several  points  of  resemblance 
between  Mohammed  and  Luther,  as  founders  of  new 
religions.  Both  acted  under  the  stimulus  of  their  own 
ambition,  without  any  Divine  call.  Both  were  sensual 
men,  as  their  lives  and  works  and  their  influence  in  the 
world  plainly  show.  Both  were  the  scourge  of  the 
degenerate  Christians  of  their  times. 

II.     DESPOTISM  IN  FACT. 

1.    A  False  Prophet. 

Luther  was  born  at  Eisleben  in  Saxony.  He  became 
an  Augustinian  friar.  In  1517  he  started  the  Protestant 
Revolt,  which  threw  all  northern  Europe  into  an  uproar, 
and  he  died  in  1546. 


LAX  PROTESTANTISM.  229 

A  self-appointed  prophet,  Luther  changed  the  Scriptures 
at  will  to  prove  his  new  doctrines.  He  is  sometimes  re- 
presented as  the  discoverer,  and  the  first  translator  and 
correct  interpreter,  of  the  Bible.  It  is  false  that  the  Bible 
was  not  in  common  use  before  his  time.  In  the  Caxton 
exhibition  of  London  in  1878  there  were  exhibited  sixty 
copies  of  as  many  different  editions  of  Latin  and  vernacular 
Bibles  printed  before  1503.  It  is  false  that  Luther  made 
the  first  and  best  version  of  the  Scriptures,  for  he  used  as 
a  basis  several  Catholic  translations  already  in  existence. 
It  is  also  false  that  he  was  the  best  interpreter  of  Holy 
Writ ;  for  he  sacrificed  everthing  to  his  own  personal  ideas 
and  to  mere  rhetorical  considerations.  Dr.  Amser,  who 
afterwards  made  an  original  translation  of  the  Bible, 
proved  that  Luther's  translation  contained  more  than 
1400  errors  and  forgeries.  The  addition  of  the  word 
"alone"  to  Romans  iii,  28,  is  an  example  of  his  high- 
handed treatment  of  the  sacred  text.  "Man  is  justified  by 
faith  alone,  without  the  works  of  the  law",  he  made  the 
verse  read.  Luther  rejected  certain  of  the  canonical  books 
without  any  other  reason  than  his  personal  dislike  for 
them.  He  had  but  little  respect  for  the  three  synoptic 
Gospels,  he  despised  the  Epistle  of  St.  James  and  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  he  threw  out  all  the  Greek 
books  of  the  Old  Testament.  That  he  had  no  Divine  inspir- 
ation clearly  appears  from  his  own  variations,  and  from  the 
decline  of  faith  and  morals  which  set  in  among  his  followers. 

2.    A  Presumptuous  Doctor. 

Luther  put  himself  above  all  the  lights  of  the  Church, 
and  pretended  to  know  more  than  all  the  Schoolmen, 
Doctors  and  Fathers  of  the  past  centuries,  whom  he 
abused  as  "knaves,  dolts,  asses  and  infernal  blasphemers." 
Confuted  in  a  public  discussion  at  Leipzig,  in  the  presence 
of  the  professors  of  the  universities  of  Paris,  Lou  vain  and 
Cologne,  he  characterized  these  learned  men  as  "mules, 
asses  and  Epicurean  swine. "  He  asserted  that  St.  Augustine 
often  erred,  and  that  the  works  of  St.  Thomas  were  "a 
mere  theological  abortion,  a  sink  of  error,  a  compound  of 
all  sorts  of  heresies  which  destroy  the  Gospel." 


230  THE  THREE  AGES. 

3.     An  Intolerant  Anti-pope. 

The  pseudo-reformer  of  Wittenberg  was  possessed  of  a 
Satanical  hatred  against  the  Popes,  but,  while  declaiming 
against  their  authority,  he  arrogated  to  himself  more 
power  than  they  had  ever  pretended  to.  He  suffered  no 
contradiction  from  any  one,  and  he  forced  his  new  religion 
upon  an  unwilling  people.  He  contended  in  a  pamphlet 
that  the  Papacy  is  an  institution  of  the  Devil,  and  he 
abused  all  Popes,  Bishops,  priests,  monks,  and  Catholics 
in  general,  in  the  coarsest  manner. 

The  people  were  loath  to  recognize  his  authority,  but 
Luther  forced  them  to  it  by  the  sword  of  the  secular 
princes.  To  these  he  offered  as  a  bait  the  ecclesiastical 
property.  They  seized  it  eagerly  and  became  the  chief 
champions  of  Lutheranism.  Among  them  were  Philip  of 
Hesse,  Albert  of  Brandenburg  and  Frederic  of  Saxony,  and 
the  Scandinavian  king  Christian  II  (1513—1523).  The 
last-named  was  driven  from  the  throne  by  his  indignant 
subjects  and  the  Scandinavian  lands  were  divided  as  he  had 
tried  to  divide  the  Church.  But  his  successors  Christian  III 
(1533—1588)  and  Gustams  Vasa  (1522—1560)  succeeded 
in  introducing  Protestantism  against  the  will  of  their 
people.  The  Protestant  rulers  pretended  to  the  right  of 
enslaving  the  consciences  of  their  subjects,  and  those  of 
Germany  waged  three  civil  wars  to  uphold  that  claim. 
In  the  Thirty  Years'  War  they  called  all  the  rulers  of 
northern  Europe  into  Germany  to  help  them  maintain 
that  despotic  principle. 

Far  then  from  being  a  popular  movement,  Protestantism 
was  received  with  repulsion  by  all  true  and  fervent  Christians. 
It  was  welcome  to  the  lukewarm  or  evil-minded  ones,  as  a 
relaxation  of  the  Christian  faith  and  morals.  Says  Bossuet: 

"What  wonder  that  heresies  which  favor  the  inclination  of  corrupt 
nature  should  have  spread  with  great  rapidity,  and  that  those  which 
assailed  incomprehensible  mysteries  should  have  dragged  along  with 
them  in  the  ways  of  impiety  the  curious,  the  proud,  the  presumptuous 
minds  which  always  abound  ?  Is  it  a  matter  of  astonishment  that  in 
the  excitement  of  an  ill-regulated  zeal  against  disorders  which  the  Church 
was  first  to  mourn  many  Christians  were  carried  even  into  schism  and 
revolt?  Their  success  is  no  more  surprising  than  that  of  Mohammed, 
for  it  displays  the  same  characteristics." 


LAX  PROTESTANTISM.  231 

III.    LICENSE  IN  PRINCIPLE. 

The  main  principles  of  Protestantism  are  the  private 
interpretation  of  the  Bible  and  salvation  by  "faith"  with- 
out good  works. 

Granting  to  every  one  the  right  to  interpret  the 
Scriptures  without  being  able  to  confer  the  power  of  doing 
so,  it  threw  its  followers  into  endless  and  useless  disputes. 
Allowing  them  to  twist  every  text  and  every  incident  of 
Scripture  according  to  their  own  caprices,  its  only  logical 
conclusion  was  utter  unbelief.  It  is  folly  to  interpret  the 
Divine  oracles  by  the  human  mind  alone,  which  is  neither 
sure  nor  powerful  enough  for  such  a  work.  Many 
phenomena  of  color  seem  m3rsteries  and  contradictions  to 
a  blind  man ;  and,  in  a  similar  way,  there  are  truths  above 
the  capacity  of  our  feeble  intellect,  which  is  dazzled  by  the 
slightest  ray  of  the  Divine  light. 

Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  the  private  interpretation 
of  the  Bible  led  to  hopelessly  contradictory  conclusions 
and  bred  a  swarm  of  warring  and  ever-changing  sects. 

Luther  himself  wrote  to  the  Christians  of  Antwerp : 
"There  are  as  many  sects  as  there  are  heads.  Every  booby 
imagines  himself  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  wants  to 
be  a  Prophet."  He  alternately  affirmed  and  denied  the 
seven  sacraments  and  the  authority  of  the  Councils  of  the 
Church.  He  often  preached  \vhat  he  did  not  believe  him- 
self, as  he  frankly  avowed  to  Anthony  Mussa,  who  had 
complained  that  he  could  not  believe  what  he  was  preach- 
ing. He  wrore  to  the  friars  of  Wittenberg : 

"How  often  did  my  heart  faint,  punish  and  reproach  me  with  the 
following  pungent  argument:  "Art  thou  alone  wise?  Could  all  the  others 
err  and  have  continued  to  err  for  so  long  a  time  ?  How  if  thou  errest 
and  leadest  into  error  so  many  people  who  will  all  be  damned  forever?" 

But  the  unfortunate  man  silenced  these  warnings  of 
his  troubled  conscience  by  persuading  himself  that  they 
were  diabolical  illusions  which  he  was  bound  to  resist! 

Protestantism  became  a  battlefield  of  religious  dis- 
putes. Its  followers  questioned  everything.  The  Ana- 
baptists refused  to  acknowledge  the  lawfulness  of  validity 
of  infant  baptism,  arid  the  Sacrameritarians  rejected  the 
Real  Presence.  The  very  fundamental  doctrine  of  Pro- 


232  THE  THREE  AGES. 

testantism,  "justification  by  faith  alone,"  was  questioned 
everywhere.  There  was  a  profound  contempt  for  the 
ministers  of  the  false  gospel  and  a  total  lack  of  practical 
charity.  Luther  says: 

"A  poor  village  parson  is  now  the  most  despised  of  all.  There  is  no 
peasant  that  does  not  trample  him  under  his  feet.  They  let  them  herd 
cows  and  hogs  like  other  peasants.  I  would  prevent  them  from  having  any 
pastors  and  preachers,  and  let  them  live  like  swine  as  they  do  anyway." 

According  to  Luther,  when  the  plague  broke  out  in 
Wittenberg  in  1527  and  1539  the  people  were  filled  with 
such  horrible  fear  "that  the  brother  forsook  his  brother 
and  the  son  his  parents." 

Proclaiming  justification  by  faith  alone  without  good 
works,  Luther  let  loose  all  the  passions  of  man.  He  wrote 
to  Melanchthon:  "Be  a  sinner  and  sin  boldly,  and  more 
boldly  still  believe  and  rejoice  in  Christ,  who  is  a  con- 
queror of  sin  and  of  the  world.  Sin  is  our  lot  here  below. 
Sin  cannot  deprive  us  of  Christ,  even  if  in  one  day  we 
were  to  commit  a  thousand  adulteries  and  a  thousand 
murders."  Goethe  thus  expresses  Luther's  sentiments: 

"Who  loves  not  women,  wine  and  song 
Remain^  a  fool  his  whole  life  long." 

Luther  had  studied  the  most  licentious  Pagan  authors, 
and  he  harped  continually  on  the  impossibility  of  con- 
tinence. He  pretended  that  "no  man  or  woman  could  be 
chaste  in  primitive,  much  less  in  fallen  nature.  To  vow 
to  abstain  from  this  natural  propensity  is  the  same  as  to 
vow  that  one  will  have  wings  and  fly  and  be  an  angel." 
Luther,  himself  a  priest,  "married"  the  nun  Catherine  Bora. 
He  allowed  divorce,  and  sanctioned  the  bigamy  of  Philip 
of  Hesse. 

He  often  described  the  corruption  of  his  followers  in 
terms  similar  to  the  following: 

"The  people  are  like  pigs,  dead  and  buried  in  constant  drunkenness. 
I  often  wish  that  these  filthy  swinebellies  were  back  under  the  tyranny 
of  the  Popes." 

Why  did  he  induce  them  to  revolt  against  the  Popes, 
who  had  made  of  the  Germans  one  of  the  most  refined 
peoples  of  the  world? 


LAX  PROTESTANTISM.  233 

Five  month  before  his  death  he  wished  to  leave  his 
capital  of  Wittenberg  on  account  of  its  corruption.  He 
wrote  to  his  "wife": 

"Away  from  this  Sodom!  I  would  rather  wander  about  and  beg 
my  bread  than  to  allow  my  poor  old  last  days  to  be  martyred  and 
upset  by  the  disorders  of  Wittemberg." 

What  a  desperate  state  for  the  first  cit}r  of  Pro- 
testantism to  be  in?  What  a  difference  between  Peter's 
Catacombs  and  Luther's  Sodom! 

Luther  continually  speaks  of  the  Devil.  He  describes 
himself  as  having  seen  him  and  disputed  with  him  on 
various  occasions,  and  it  was  after  a  long  discussion  of 
the  kind  that  he  took  the  step  of  abolishing  private  Mass. 
What  a  reformer,  who  chooses  his  measures  according  to 
the  dictates  of  Satan!  His  fellow  "reformer"  Zwingli 
compliments  him  in  this  \vise: 

"Luther  is  not  possessed  of  one  but  of  a  legion  of  devils.  He  wrote 
all  his  works  by  the  impulse  and  at  the  dictation  of  the  Devil,  with 
whom  he  had  dealings,  and  who  in  the  struggle  seems  to  have  thrown 
him  by  victorious  arguments." 

Thread  well,  his  American  apologist,  says: 

"If  we  believe  himself  a  legion  of  devils  was  at  his  heels  continually, 
and  neither  rhetoric  nor  invective  succeeded  in  expelling  them." 


CHAPTER  THIRTYSECOND. 
RIGORISTIC  PROTESTANTISM. 

Woe  to  you  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites  ;  because  you 
tithe  mint  and  annis  and  cummin,  and  have  left  the  weightier 
things  of  the  law,  judgement  and  mercy  and  fath. 

MATTHEW  xxiii,  23. 

I.    MOHAMMEDAN  FEATURES  OF  CALVINISM. 


gloomy  Calvin  gave  a  cheerless  form  to  Protes- 
tantism, and  brought  into  Christendom  the  Moham- 
medan features  of  fatalism  and  intolerance.  He  taught 
that  God  has  predestined  a  part  of  mankind  to  eternal 
happiness,  and  another  part  to  eternal  damnation,  to 
which  destinies  be  will  bring  them  irresistibly.  Only  a 
genius  could  build  up  such  a  repulsive  system;  but  no 
genius  could  preserve  it  from  its  fatal  consequences.  By 
his  literary  talents  Calvin  veiled  the  horror  of  his  doctrine 
of  predam  nation  ,  by  his  commanding  authority  he  imposed 
an  iron  rule  upon  his  followers;  and  by  his  organizing 
power  be  united  the  forces  of  Protestantism,  and  made  of 
Geneva  a  second  Rome.  He  founded  an  academy  of 
philosophy  and  theology,  which  became  the  great  nursery 
of  Protestant  ministers,  and  he  divided  the  preachers  into 
pastors,  elders  and  deacons.  But  his  ingenious  measures 
cauld  not  prevent  the  inexorable  consequences  of  his  crude 
fatalism  and  his  unbearable  rigorism.  It  generated  cruelty 
and  despair;  and  caused  a  reaction  to  utter  unbelief  and 
hideous  immorality. 

II.    A  GLOOMY  SYSTEM. 
1.    Fatalism. 

Calvin's  characteristic  doctrine  is  the  tenet  of  absolute 
and  unconditional  predestination.  In  his  "Institutes"  he- 
says: 


RIGORISTIC  PROTESTANTISM.  235 

"One  portion  of  men  God  has  foreordained  to  everlasting  happiness, 
n  order  to  manifest  his  mercy  on  them.  These  are  perfectly  sure  of  their 
happiness  and  cannot  be  damned.  All  other  men  God  has  from  all 
eternity  foreordained  to  damnation  in  order  to  manifest  his  justice  in 
them.  These  notwithstanding  the  greatest  efforts  cannot  attain  to 
salvation." 

Moreover,  Calvin  sa}rs  that  none  are  chosen  but  his 
own  followers,  who  observe  all  and  every  one  of  the 
minutest  commandments  of  God,  which  he  exaggerated 
into  unbearable  burdens. 

At  the  outset  Calvinism  was  a  system  of  fear  and 
trembling,  in  which  God  and  His  representatives  on  earth 
were  nothing  but  bloodthirsthy  tyrants.  Now  this  absurd 
doctrine  has  been  discarded  by  the  greater  number  of  those 
who  profess  to  be  Calvin's  followers.  If  Calvin  had  been 
sent  by  God  as  His  messenger,  could  he  have  taught  such 
an  impossible  doctrine  as  the  cornerstone  of  his  system, 
and  could  that  very  fundamental  principle  be  subject  to 
change  ? 

2.    Intolerance. 

Exiled  from  France  for  unnatural  crimes,  Calvin  arrived 
in  Switzerland,  which  had  already  been  disturbed  by  the 
agitations  of  Swingli  for  fifteen  years.  Called  to  Geneva 
in  1536,  he  ruled  that  city  with  an  iron  hand  till  his 
death  in  1564.  For  only  four  years  did  the  liberty -loving 
citizens  succeed  in  driving  away  their  foreign  master.  Calvin 
was  as  absolute  and  as  tyrannical  as  a  Mohammedan 
Khaliph.  He  held  under  his  control  the  council  of  twenty- 
five  burgomasters,  and  instituted  a  consistory  of  eighteen 
members  to  prevent  any  attack  against  his  person  or  his 
cause.  It  was  a  tribunal  of  inquisition  far  more  severe 
and  far  more  searching  than  the  Spanish  Inquisition. 
Calvin  suppressed  all  liberty,  personal  as  well  as  civil  and 
religious.  He  arbitrarily  regulated  matters  of  dress,  diet 
and  trade,  and  the  daily  routine  of  life.  He  condemned  to 
prison  the  merchant  who  played  at  cards,  the  peasant 
who  spoke  harshly  to  his  beast,  and  the  citizen  who  did 
not  extinguish  his  lamp  at  a  certain  hour.  Every  year  the 
Inquisitorial  Consistory  instituted  hundreds  of  prosecutions 
for  blasphemy,  calumny,  obscene  language,  lechery,  insults 


236  THE  THREE  AGES. 

to  Calvin,  attempts  against  the  French  exiles,  and  offences 
against  the  ministers.  Calvin  never  forgave  a  .personal 
injury.  He  was  as  watchful  as  a  tiger  to  pounce  upon  his 
prey.  He  sent  several  distinguished  citizens  to  prison  or 
to  exile  for  a  difference  of  opinion  with  him.  He  executed 
for  heresy  Berthellier  and  Servatus.  The  latter  was  a 
Protestant  physician,  of  independent  opinions,  who  had 
been  banished  from  Yienne,  in  France,  through  the  intrigues 
of  Calvin.  Passing  through  Geneva  he  was  cast  into  jail 
and  left  a  prey  to  disease  and  vermin.  After  six  weeks  of 
torments  he  begged  in  vain  for  fresh  linen,  and  he  also 
wrote  four  times  to  supplicate  the  right  of  defence.  Calvin 
refused  everything,  and  even  laughed  at  the  agony  of  his 
dying  victim,  who  was  burned  at  the  stump  of  a  tree  out- 
side of  the  city. 

Calvin  was  struck  by  ten  diseases,  which  he  describes 
to  the  physicians  of  Montpellier.  He  cursed  the  day  he 
ever  studied  or  wrote.  The  Protestant  Schlussemberg  says : 

"God  struck  this  heretic  with  a  heavy  hand,  so  that,  despairing  of 
his  salvation  and  invoking  the  devils,  swearing,  execrating  in  an  awful 
way,  he  gave  up  the  ghost.  Worms  were  growing  in  a  horrible  aposteme 
in  his  most  intimate  parts,  in  such  wise  that  none  of  the  attendants 
could  endure  the  smell." 

Calvin  died  on  May  27th,  1564,  at  eight  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  was  buried  at  two  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day,  although  many  people  had  come  from  afar  to  see  him 
a  last  time.  Theodore  Beza,  his  worthy  successor  and 
biographer,  tried  to  conceal  these  facts;  but  they  are  ad- 
mitted to-day  by  the  most  serious  historians.  Calvin's 
memory,  long  held  in  veneration,  has  gradually  fallen  into 
disrepute.  At  his  third  centennial  celebration,  the  city  of 
Geneva  refused  to  acknowledge  him  as  a  national  hero  or 
a  national  saint,  and  by  way  of  protest  against  the  cele- 
bration the  capital  sentences  of  Berthellier  and  Servetus 
were  posted  on  the  walls." 

III.    EVIL  FRUITS  OF  CALVINISM. 

The  great  mistake  of  Calvin  was  that  he  made  Divine 
commandments  out  of  Evangelical  counsels,  and  even  out 
of  notions  of  his  own  utterly  without  Scriptural  founda- 


RIGORISTIC  PROTESTANTISM.  237 

tion.  He  thus  discouraged  his  followers,  and  made  them 
despair  of  being  able  to  comply  with  his  regulations.  In 
the  Church  of  God  there  exist  religious  orders  prescribing 
more  severity  than  the  strictest  Calvinism.  But  they  are 
voluntarily  joined  by  persons  aspiring  to  a  special  state 
ot  spiritual  perfection,  while  Calvinism  was  imposed  upon 
all  as  necessary  to  salvation  and  under  pain  of  the  law. 
Excessive  rigorism  is  as  fatal  as  excessive  laxity,  for  it 
soon  destroys  all  joy  and  all  hope.  The  natural  conse- 
quences of  such  a  stern  doctrine  and  intolerable  discipline 
were  discouragement  and  despair,  doubt  and  unbelief  and 
a  multitude  of  other  sins.  How  could  people  long  believe 
in  the  tyrannical  God  described  by  Calvin?  Unable  to 
understand  such  a  cruel  God  and  to  observe  such  stringent 
laws,  they  gave  them  up  altogether,  and  ceased  to  make 
any  pretense  of  serving  Christ. 

That  rod  of  iron,  far  from  uplifting  the  people,  threw 
them  into  real  crimes.  Dr.  Paul  Henry  says: 

"To  those  who  imagine  that  Calvin  did  nothing  but  good,  I  would 
produce  our  registers  covered  with  records  of  ilegitimate  children,  who 
were  exposed  in  all  parts  of  the  town  and  country,  hideous  trials  for 
obscenity,  men  and  women  burnt  for  witchcraft,  sentences  of  death  in 
frighful  numbers,  and  all  that  in  the  very  generation  nourished  by  the 
mystic  manna  of  Calvin!" 

What  a  contrast  between  the  records  of  the  criminal 
courts  of  Calvin's  Geneva,  and  the  acts  of  the  matyrs  of 
Peter's  Rome! 

The  plague  broke  out  in  1543,  and  the  officials  asked 
for  at  least  one  minister  to  attend  the  dying  who  were 
crowded  in  the  hospital.  The  preachers  met  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drawing  lots  to  decide  who  was  to  go.  Only  one 
was  willing  to  expose  himself  if  the  lot  should  fall  upon 
him.  The  others  said  that  God  had  not  given  them  the 
grace  to  have  courage  and  strength  to  go  to  the  hospital ! 
None  of  them  went.  There  was  only  a  French  poet,  with 
one  companion,  who  were  brave  enough  to  attend  the 
sick. 

The  Calvinists,  and  especially  the  Puritans,  have  often 
been  represented  as  the  champions  of  liberty  and  indepen- 
dence. If  liberty  means  a  right  to  destroy  the  liberty  of 
others,  if  independence  means  a  right  to  overthrow  all 


238  THE  THREE  AGES. 

other  power  but  their  own,  they  have  illustrated  them  to 
perfection.  For  the  intolerant  spirit  of  Calvin  descended 
to  his  disciples  in  all  lands,  who  oppressed  the  people 
wherever  and  whenever  they  had  a  chance,  and  conspired 
against  the  governments  they  could  not  control.  Although 
an  insignificant  minority  in  France  and  Belgium,  the 
Calvinists,  under  the  names  of  Huguenots  and  Gueux, 
attempted  by  bloody  wars  to  reduce  those  countries  under 
their  control.  In  Germany  they  greatly  embittered  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  In  Scotland  and  England  they  over- 
threw the  governments  and  persecuted  all  their  fellow- 
citizens  who  where  not  Calvinists.  They  carried  their 
fanatical  principles  into  America,  and  acted  on  them  until 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  when  they  were  compelled 
to  desist  for  the  sake  of  the  common  safety  and  the  per- 
petuation of  the  confederation  of  colonies. 

They  fastened  on  the  people  an  unbearable  yoke  of 
Pharisaic  observances.  They  made  no  crime  of  civil  war, 
or  the  enslavement  and  extermination  of  savages,  but  they 
made  it  a  crime  for  a  man  to  absent  himself  from  their 
heartless  services,  or  for  a  mother  to  kiss  her  baby  on  a 
''Sabbath  day!" 

The  most  fatal  indictment  against  the  work  of  Calvin 
is  that  from  the  ranks  of  his  followers  have  come  the 
greater  number  of  complete  apostates  and  unbelievers.  Is 
it  the  work  of  God  to  drive  the  Christians  away  from  the 
Savior  ?  Has  Calvin  occomplished  the  work  of  the  Master 
who  came  to  look  for  the  forlorn  Sheep? 


CHAPTER  THIRTYTHIRD. 
AUTOCRATIC  PROTESTANTISM. 

There  was  a  slaughter  of  young  and  old,  a  destruction  of 
women  and  children,  and  killing  of  virgins  and  infants  .  .  . 
And  there  were  slain  .  .  .  fourscore  thousand,  forty  thousand 
were  made  prisoners  and  as  many  sold.  But  this  was  not 
enough.  He  presumed  also  to  enter  into  the  temple  the  most 
holy  in  all  the  world  ....  And  taking  in  his  wicked  hands  the 
holy  vessels,  which  were  given  by  the  cities  and  kings  for  the 
ornament  and  the  glory  of  the  place,  he  unworthily  handled 
and  profaned  them.  II  MACHABEES  v,  13 — 16. 

I.    SPIRIT  OF  ENGLISH  REVOLT. 

English  historian  Cobbett,  himself  an  Episcopalian, 
proves  by  irrecusable  official  documents  that  the  so- 
called  " Reformation"  in  England  was  an  imposition  on, 
and  a  degradation  of,  the  English  people.  Lust,  ambition 
and  rapacity  were  its  motives;  bloodshed,  starvation  and 
legal  prosecution  were  the  means  used  to  impose  it  upon 
the  people;  and  corruption  and  pauperism  were  the  results. 
It  is  with  the  fullest  justice  that  Henry  VIII  and  Elizabeth 
are  called  the  Neros  of  the  North.  No  Christian  prince 
€ver  equalled  their  cruelty  and  their  other  crimes;  or  did 
more  injury  to  the  religion  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

II.     SCHISM  OF  HENRY  VIII. 

The  first  step  of  the  English  Revolt  was  taken  by 
Henry  VIII  in  1533,  and  consisted  of  schism,  accompanied 
by  robbery  and  slaughter.  Henry  VIII  was  a  powerful 
.and  brilliant  king,  and  a  defender  of  the  Faith  against 
Luther,  until  he  delivered  himself  up  to  his  passions. 
Cobbett  says  that  then  he  became  "the  most  unjust, 
hardest-hearted,  meanest  and  most  sanguinary  tyrant  that 
the  world  ever  beheld,  whether  Christian  or  heathen." 
After  seventeen  years  of  happy  married  life  \vith  the  great 


240  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Spanish  princess  Catherine  of  Aragon,  the  daughter  of 
Isabella,  he  was  fascinated  by  the  charms  of  Anne  Boleyn 
and  consequently  sought  a  divorce  from  his  queen,  under 
the  pretext  that  she  had  been  the  wife  of  his  deceased 
brother.  In  hope  of  quieting  down  his  passions,  Pope 
Clement  VII  protracted  negotiations.  But  Henry  brooked 
no  delay :  He  dismissed  his  prime  minister  Cardinal  Wolsey ; 
he  consulted  the  universities  of  Europe,  which  decided 
against  him;  and  he  attempted  coercion  by  refusing  to 
allow  any  further  exercice  within  his  realm  of  the  Papal 
rights  of  receiving  the  first  fruits  of  vacant  benefices,  and 
confirming  Episcopal  elections. 

All  these  things  failing  to  obtain  the  coveted  divorce, 
two  arch-rascals  counselled  him  to  separate  from  Rome 
and  to  recur  to  his  own  courts.  The}'-  were  the  hypo- 
critical Thomas  Cromwell  and  Thorn  as  Cranmer.  Appointed 
respectively  Lord  Chancellor  and  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
they  granted  a  decree  of  divorce  from  Catherine  and 
approved  of  the  marriage  with  Anne.  Banished  from  the 
court,  and  deprived  of  her  only  child  Mary,  the  noble 
Catherine  died  in  1536.  Three  months  later  her  supplanter 
was  accused  of  adultery,  proved  guilty  with  four  different 
partners,  and  beheaded.  Henry  is  said  to  have  \vept  at 
the  death  of  Catherine,  but  he  dressed  in  white  at  the 
execution  of  Anne,  and  the  following  day  he  married  Jane 
Seymour,  who  died  unregretted  in  childbirth.  He  took 
three  more  wives :  Catherine  of  Cleves,  a  German  who  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping  from  the  clutches  of  the  royal  Bluebeard, 
Catherine  Howard,  who  was  beheaded,  and  Catherine 
Parr,  who  was  able  to  survive  the  royal  liberty  only  by 
the  exercise  of  great  skill. 

At  first  the  Apostolic  See  merely  annulled  Cranmer's 
decision;  but  in  1535  a  bull  of  excummunication  against 
Henry  VIII  was  signed,  which  was  published  in  1538. 
The  King  and  the  Parliament  had  achieved  a  thorough 
secession  or  schism  from  Rome.  In  1534  they  abolished 
the  Papal  jurisdiction  in  the  realm,  and  pretended  to  make 
the  king  "the  supreme  head  of  the  English  Church".  By 
the  "Act  of  Supremacy"  authority  in  all  matters  ecclesias- 
tical was  vested  in  the  crown,  and  an  oath  acknowledging 


AUTOCRATIC  PROTESTANTISM.  241 

the  royal  supremacy  was  required  from  all  officials,  under 
pain  of  felony.  With  one  exception  the  Bishops  of  England 
let  themselves  be  browbeaten  into  subscribing  to  the 
declaration  that  "the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  no  more 
authority  conferred  on  him  by  God  in  this  kingdom  of 
England  than  any  other  foreign  Bishop."  The  English 
people  were  profoundly  Catholic,  and,  especially  in  the 
north,  they  took  a  vigorous  stand  against  the  usurpations 
of  the  new  lay  Pope,  notwithstanding  the  treason  of  their 
Bishops.  But  they  were  overwhelmed  by  the  royal  armies, 
and  all  armed  opposition  was  soon  crushed  out. 

With  a  Parliament  that  trembled  at  his  feet,  Henry 
carried  out  his  plans  by  a  series  of  laws  and  penalties  so 
horrible  as  to  terrify  every  class  of  society;  and  he 
plundered  his  subjects  on  a  scale  never  before  known  in 
any  civilized  country.  Holinshed  puts  down  72,000  as  the 
number  of  victims  murdered  by  this  tyrant.  It  is  said  of 
Henry  VIII  that  "he  spared  no  man  in  his  anger,  and  no 
woman  in  his  lust."  During  his  reign  of  thirtyseven 
years,  he  ordered  the  execution  of  two  queens,  two  cardi- 
nals, two  archbishops,  eighteen  Bishops,  thirteen  abbots, 
five  hundred  priors  and  other  monks,  thirty  eight  doctors 
of  divinity  and  law,  twelve  dukes,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  noblemen  of  lesser  rank,  one  hundred  and  twenty  four 
gentlemen -commoners,  and  110  ladies.  Among  his  victims 
were  the  noble  and  saintly  Chancellor  Sir  Thomas  More, 
Bishop  Fisher,  and  the  Countess  of  Salisbury,  the  king's 
cousin.  The  great  means  of  cementing  the  new  order  of 
things  was  the  spoils  resulting  from  the  plunder  of  the 
parishes,  guilds,  religious  orders,  hospitals  and  all  other 
religious  and  charitable  institutions,  by  Henry  and  his 
satellites. 

About  1000  monasteries  and  100  hospitals  were 
destroyed  and  their  property  seized  by  the  king's  minions. 
This  was  a  social  crime  which  fastened  upon  England  the 
curse  of  pauperism.  Monastic  property  was  held  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  poor ;  it  gave  employment  to  thousands 
of  families,  and  was  the  main  source  of  food  production.  • 
Now  the  vast  farms  of  the  monks  were  turned  into  sheep- 
ranches  by  the  nobles  or  speculators  to  whom  the  king 

16 


242  THE  THREE  AGES. 

gave  or  sold  them,  and  the  price  of  provisions  enormously 
increased.  Many  towns,  villages  and  hamlets  were  in  a 
short  time  converted  into  wastes  and  their  inhabitants 
reduced  to  beggary  and  starvation.  Although  no  work 
was  to  be  had,  beggary  was  made  a  crime  unless  licensed 
by  the  authorities.  If  any  one  begged  without  license  he 
was  first  whipped,  and  then  his  right  ear  was  cut  off  and 
finally  his  head.  Later,  Somerset  branded  the  beggars  as 
vagrants  and  slaves,  and  gave  them  to  inhuman  masters 
whom  they  were  compelled  to  serve  for  a  time  or  for  life. 
Cromwell,  the  instigator  and  executor  of  these  barbarous 
measures,  took  for  himself  no  less  than  thirty  of  the 
monastic  estates.  But  Henry  finally  coveted  his  property 
and  sent  him  also  to  the  block. 

The  tyrant  lived  seven  years  after  his  evil  minister's 
death,  but  it  was  in  disappointment  and  disease.  He 
raged  and  foamed  against  his  faithless  wives  like  a  wild 
beast;  he  passed  laws  against  them,  and  made  himself 
the  laughing  stock  of  all  Europe.  Gluttony  and  debauchery 
made  him  an  unwieldy  mass  of  flesh. 

III.     HERESY  INTRODUCED  BY  SOMERSET. 

Henry  VIII  had  asked  that  his  son  Edward  VI,  born 
of  Jane  Seymour,  should  be  educated  in  the  old  faith,  but 
his  uncle  Somerset  got  possession  of  him  and  raised  him  a 
Protestant.  It  was  this  man  who  turned  Henry's  schis- 
matic ecclesiastical  establishment  into  an  out-an-out 
Protestant  sect  (1547).  Cranmer,  that  prince  of  hypocrites, 
was  his  right  arm,  and  called  from  the  continent  the 
fanatics  Bucer,  Knox  and  "Peter  Martyr"  to  Protestantize 
England.  The  Holy  Mass  was  declared  "a  damnable 
idolatry"  and  the  churches  were  systematically  despoiled. 
An  English  service-book  known  as  "The  Book  of  Common 
Prayer"  was  hastily  compiled  from  the  Catholic  Missal 
and  Ritual,  a  symbol  of  fortytwo  articles  of  faith  was 
drawn  up  and  both  were  imposed  upon  the  people  by  force 
of  penal  laws.  Formidable  insurrections  broke  out  in 
various  parts  of  the  kingdom ;  but  foreign  mercenaries 
were  called  in  to  shoot  down  the  brave  Englishmen  who 
had  the  courage  to  make  a  stand  for  religious  liberty; 


AUTOCRATIC  PROTESTANTISM.  243 

and  by  the  weapons  of  German  Lutheran  hirelings  the 
people  were  finally  forced  to  submit  to  the  iniquitous 
innovators.  Somerset  had  already  killed  one  of  his  brothers, 
and  he  attempted  to  destroy  another,  called  Northumber- 
land, who  however  succeeded  in  putting  him  to  death  and 
assumed  the  Regency  himself.  Soon  Edward  VI  died,  and 
Northumberland  crowned  his  own  daughter-in-law,  Lady 
Jane  Grey,  a  niece  of  Henry  VIII. 

IV.     CATHOLIC  REVIVAL  UNDER  MARY. 

The  immense  majority  of  the  people  were  still  Catholic, 
and  notwithstanding  the  conspiracy  of  Northumberland, 
Queen  Mary  entered  London  in  triumph  at  the  head  of 
30,000  men.  Northumberland  was  put  to  death  and, 
after  a  new  conspiracy  had  been  unearthed,  the  pretender 
also  was  beheaded.  Cranmer,  conspiring  with  France, 
was  likewise  executed.  Mary  wished  to  restore  the  Catholic 
religion,  and  the  always  complaisant  Parliament  passed  a 
bill  destructive  of  the  work  of  Somerset  and  Henry  VIII. 
In  a  full  public  session  Cardinal  Pole  absolved  England 
from  heresy  and  schism.  Mary  had  to  defend  herself 
against  Protestant  conspiracies ;  and  she  executed  none 
but  traitors  and  criminals.  Hume,  a  rabit  reviler  of  Mary, 
puts  at  277  the  number  of  executions  during  the  five 
years  of  her  reign.  Cobbett  says  : 

"All  the  people  executed  by  Mary  were  "without  exception  apostates, 
perjurers  and  plunderers,  and  the  greatest  number  of  them  had  also  been 
guilty  of  high  treason  against  Mary  herself." 

V.     FINAL  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  PROTESTANTISM  BY 
ELIZABETH. 

Elizabeth  (1558—1603)  showed  herself  a  true  daughter 
of  Henry  VIII  and  Anne  Boleyn  by  her  scandalous  lust, 
her  religious  tyranny  and  her  heartless  cruelty.  She  was 
often  called  by  her  courtiers  "the  Virgin  Queen",  but  her 
scandalous  relations  with  Leicester,  second  son  of  North- 
umberland, to  say  nothing  of  others,  were  known  to  all. 

She  has  also  received  from  certain  fanatical  perverters 
of  history  the  soubriquet  of  "The  Good  Queen  Bess",  her 
predecessor  being  styled  by  the  same  wretched  deceivers 


244  THE  THREE  AGES. 

"Bloody  Mary".  But  these  misnomers  have  become  obso- 
lete, and  now  only  endure  as  historical  mementoes  of  the 
blindness  of  sectarian  partisanship.  "For  every  drop  of 
blood  that  Mary  shed/'  says  Cobbett,  "Elizabeth  shed  a 
pint.  She  put  more  people  to  death  in  one  year  than 
Mary  in  all  her  reign." 

Upon  the  advice  of  Cecil  she  brought  before  Parliament 
the  motion  to  reestablish  the  schism  of  Henry  and  the 
heresy  of  Somerset.  By  creating  new  peers  and  imprison- 
ing most  of  the  Bishops  she  had  it  passed  by  a  majority 
of  three  votes.  The  Bishops,  who  refused  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one,  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy,  were 
deposed  and  new  ones  nominated.  By  the  authority  of 
the  Popess-queen  a  man  named  Barlow  consecrated 
Matthew  Parker,  who  had  been  chaplain  to  Anne  Boleyn, 
as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Barlow  was  not  a  Bishop 
in  the  English  Church  of  that  time.  He  had  once  been 
appointed  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells  in  Henry  the  Eighth's 
State  religion,  but  there  is  no  record  of  his  ever  having 
been  consecrated,  and  on  Mary's  occassion  he  had  been 
expelled  from  the  see  into  which  he  had  been  intruded. 
There  was  an  essential  defect  in  the  very  intention  and 
very  form  of  Parker's  consecration.  The  ritual  used  was 
that  which  had  been  invented  in  Edward's  time  for  the 
very  purpose  of  expressing  the  intention  of  not  making  a 
Bishop,  in  the  Catholic  sense  of  the  word.  It  retained  of 
the  old  Catholic  rite  only  the  words:  "Receive  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  remember  to  stir  up  the  grace  of  God  which  is 
in  thee  by  the  imposition  of  hands."  This  would  apply  as 
well  to  baptism  or  confirmation  as  to  the  consecration  of 
a  Bishop.  In  1662  the  Establishment  amended  it  by 
adding  the  words  "for  the  office  and  work  of  a  Bishop"; 
but  this  was  just  one  hundred  years  too  late  to  save 
Anglican  orders. 

The  "Book  of  Common  Prayer"  was  re-introduced  in 
a  revised  and  simplified  form,  and  Somerset's  fortytwo 
articles  of  faith  were  reduced  to  thirtynine.  Elizabeth 
acted  like  a  tigress  against  her  cousin  Mary  Stuart,  Queen 
of  the  Scots  and  legitimate  heir  to  the  throne  of  England. 
She  intrigued  with  Mary's  revolted  subjects  (the  ferocious 


AUTOCRATIC  PROTESTANTISM.  245 

sectary  Ktiox  and  his  followers  and  abettors)  and  entrapped 
her  in  England,  where  she  cast  her  into  prison  in  1568 
and  brought  her  to  the  scaffold  in  1587.  In  order  to 
escape  the  odium  of  that  barbarous  crime,  she  tried  to 
implicate  her  victim  in  conpiracies  and  to  throw  the 
responsibility  for  the  execution  upon  others.  But  the 
Protestant  historian  Whithekar  says: 

"I  blush  as  an  Englishman  to  think  that  this  was  done  by  an  Eng- 
lish queen,  and  one  whose  name  I  was  taught  in  my  infancy  to  lisp  as 
the  honor  of  her  sex  and  the  glory  of  our  isle." 

Already  in  1570  had  the  Pope  excomunicated  the  faith- 
less queen,  but  now  he  deposed  her  and  called  on  the 
Christian  kings  to  dethrone  her.  They  themselves  had 
many  just  complaints  against  her.  For  many  years  she 
had  intrigued  with  the  rebellious  subjects  of  the  kings  of 
France  and  Spain ;  and  she  had  pirates,  like  Drake,  preying 
upon  Spanish  vessels  on  all  the  seas  and  even  in  the  very 
harbors  of  Spain.  Philip  II  equipped  an  immense  fleet, 
extending  seven  miles  from  one  end  to  the  other,  and 
called  it  the  Invincible  Armada.  But  it  was  partly  destroyed 
by  storms,  and  entirely  disabled  by  the  vigorous  resistance 
of  all  the  Englishmen,  both  Catholics  and  Protestants. 
However  the  queen  showed  no  gratitude  for  the  loyalty 
of  her  Catholic  subjects,  and  went  on  butchering  them  as 
mercilessly  as  ever.  So  reluctant  were  the  people  to 
embrace  the  new  religion  that  at  the  end  of  her  reign,  in 
spite  of  the  compulsory  attendance  of  all  the  people  upon 
the  Protestant  services,  one  half  of  England  still  remained 
Catholic,  as  well  as  nearly  all  of  Ireland. 

During  the  last  thirty  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign  count- 
less penal  laws  were  passed  against  the  Catholics,  to  make 
them  outlaws  and  pariahs.  To  deny  the  spiritual  suprem- 
acy of  the  queen  or  to  communicate  with  the  Pope  was 
declared  high  treason.  Recusansy,  that  is,  refusal  to  attend 
Protestant  worship,  was  punished  with  ruinous  fines, 
imprisonment  and  bodily  chastisement.  Any  one  absenting 
himself  from  the  services  of  the  new  sect  for  a  month  was 
required  to  pay  sixty  pounds  ($300)  into  the  royal  treas- 
sury.  To  say  Mass,  to  hear  Mass,  or  to  shelter  a  priest 
was  to  incur  heavy  fines,  and,  on  repetition  of  the  offense, 


246  THE  THREE  AGES. 

to  expose  oneself  to  death  on  the  scaffold  or  at  the  stake. 
In  1594  all  priests  were  ordered  to  quit  the  kingdom 
within  forty  days.  In  1593  Catholics  were  excluded  from 
commerce,  courts  and  politics.  A  formidable  inquisition, 
under  the  name  of  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  was 
created  to  enforce  such  penal  laws.  There  were  fourtyfour 
commissioners,  who  penetrated  into  the  houses,  seized 
private  papers,  and  took  cognizance  even  of  an  unguarded 
word.  The  prisons  were  filled  with  sufferers  for  conscience's 
sake.  The  rack  was  seldom  idle  in  the  Tower.  Priests 
were  hunted  down  like  wolves ;  many  died  in  prison  and 
others  perished  on  the  scaffold.  It  became  necessary  to 
establish  English  seminaries  abroad  in  order  to  educate 
priests  full  of  heroism  to  keep  the  faith  alive  in  these 
persecuted  regions.  Such  institutions  were  established  at 
Douay,  Lou  vain  and  Rome  and  in  other  cities  of  France, 
Belgium  and  Spain. 

Elizabeth,  who  had  been  the  cause  of  so  much  grief  to 
others,  was  destined  to  close  her  life  in  sorrow  and  despair. 
Before  she  died  she  became  inconsolable  and  fell  into  a 
moping  melancholy.  She  would  sit  silent  in  her  chair  for 
whole  days  and  nights  at  a  time,  refusing  to  go  to  bed. 
To  those  who  sought  to  console  her,  she  replied,  "I  am 
tied  with  an  iron  collar";  and  she  drove  away  Parker  and 
other  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  of  her  own  creation  who 
came  to  console  her,  calling  them  "hedge-priests". 

VI.     EVIL  MEANS  AND  RESULTS. 

The  effect  of  the  official  Protestantization  of  Egland 
was  a  moral  and  material  decline  on  all  sides.  The  schools 
were  neglected  and  the  universities  deserted.  The  land  was 
inundated  with  vice  and  crime.  Gambling  was  almost 
universal  among  the  nobility  and  drunkeness  spread  rapidly 
among  the  lower  classes.  The  ale  house  had  more  attrac- 
tion than  the  meeting  house.  The  preachers  of  the  new 
gospel  were  regarded  as  dicers,  petty  thieves  and  open 
robbers.  The  parliaments  were  venal,  and  .the  counselors 
of  the  court  were  base  and  unprincipled  men.  Bribes  were 
freely  given  and  openly  accepted.  Macaulay  says: 


AUTOCRATIC  PROTESTANTISM.  247 

"A  king  whose  character  may  be  described  by  saying  that  he  was 
despotism  itself  personified,  unprincipled  ministers,  a  rapacious  aristo- 
cracy, a  servile  Parliament:  Such  were  the  instruments  which  divorced 
England  from  Rome." 

Froude  himself  testifies : 

"To  the  universities,  the  Reformation  brought  desolation,  to  the 
people  of  England,  misery  and  want.  The  change  of  faith  has  brought 
with  it  no  increase  of  freedom  and  less  of  charity.  The  prisons  were 
crowded  with  sufferers  for  opinion,  and  the  creed  of  one  thousand  years 
was  made  a  crime  by  a  doctrine  of  yesterday." 

Littledale,  a  prominent  clergyman  in  the  English 
Establishment  and  one  of  the  most  bitter  enemies  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  says: 

"The  Reformers  were  such  utterly  unredeemed  villains,  for  the  most 
part,  that  the  only  parallel  I  know  of  for  the  way  half-educated  people 
speak  of  them  among  us  is  the  appearance  of  Pontius  Pilate  among  the 
saints  in  the  Abyssinian  [separatist]  calendar." 


CHAPTER  THIRTYFOURTH. 
PERSECUTIONS  IN  IRELAND. 

They  will  deliver  you  up  in  councils  and  they  will  scourge 
you  in  their  synagogues ;  and  you  shall  be  brought  before 
governors  and  therefore  kings  for  My  sake,  for  a  testimony  to 
them  and  to  the  Gentiles. 

Fear  ye  not  them  that  kill  the  body  and  are  not  able  to  kill 
the  soul ;  but  rather  fear  Him  that  can  destroy  both  body  and 
soul  in  Hell. 

He  that  loveth  his  father  or  mother  more  than  Me  is  not 
worthy  of  Me;  and  he  that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than 
Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me.  MATTHEW  x,  17,  18,  28,  37. 

I.     A  NATION   OF   MARTYRS. 

most  noble  and  the  most  Christian  nation  of 
Northern  Europe  is  the  Irish  nation.  In  the  invasion 
of  the  barbarians  Ireland  defended  her  institutions,  and 
became  the  refuge  of  civilization  and  the  school  of  apostles. 
In  the  apostasy  of  northern  Europe  Ireland  alone  (with 
the  noble  exception  of  Flanders  and  the  Rhineland)  re- 
mained faithful  to  Christ  and  His  Church,  and  she  suffered 
a  martyrdom  of  three  centuries  for  the  sake  of  true 
Christianity.  The  most  powerful  kings  of  three  dynasties 
attempted  to  drown  her  faith  in  the  blood  of  her  children. 
Nine  generations  arose  and  suffered  or  died  for  Christ. 
The  English  succeeded  in  conquering  the  sea,  but  with  all 
their  power  and  glory  they  never  could  conquer  the  faith 
of  the  Irish  people. 

II.     FUTILE  EFFORTS  OF  HENRY  AND  SOMERSET. 

Since  1169  the  English  kings  had  been  striving  to  con- 
quer Ireland,  but  they  never  got  beyond  the  twenty  miles 
of  the  Pale  along  the  Channel,  which  was  settled  by  the 
Englishmen.  Henry  VIII  resorted  to  the  method  of  the 
Roman  conqueror :  Divide  et  impera — "Divide  your  enemies 
and  conquer  them."  He  endeavored  to  embroil  the  Irish 
in  religious  disputes,  and  to  gain  some  of  the  chiefs  by 
offering  them  the  confiscated  estates  of  monks  and  faithful 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  IRELAND.  249 

Catholic  nobles.  He  appointed  G.  Browne,  a  Lutheran, 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  sent  T.  Cromwell  as  his  agent 
to  the  country.  In  1536  the  Parliament  of  the  Pale  pro- 
claimed him  Pope,  and  in  1541  King,  of  all  Ireland.  How- 
ever, the  people  regarded  him  with  abhorrence. 

Somerset  resorted  to  every  means  to  force  Protestantism 
upon  Ireland,  such  as  threats,  bribes  and  violence;  but  all 
in  vain.  Only  four  Bishops  (besides  his  own  creature 
Browne)  and  three  priests  in  all  Ireland  were  found  ready 
to  betray  their  faith  for  filthy  lucre. 

Under  Mary  the  Catholic  religion  flourished  again  as 
before ;  and  only  four  separatist  preachers  remained  in  the 
land. 

III.    SYSTEMATIC  ATTEMPTS  AT  EXTERMINATION. 
1.    Elizabethan  Persecution. 

Elizabeth  carried  on  a  persecution  as  cruel  as  those  of 
Nero  and  Domitian.  The  Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Con- 
formity were  imposed  under  the  most  formidable  penalties. 
The  priests  were  hunted  down  like  wild  beasts,  and  sub- 
jected to  horrible  tortures.  Some  were  beaten  with  stones 
on  their  tonsured  heads  till  their  brains  were  exposed. 
Others  had  their  flesh  torn  from  their  bodies  so  that  their 
entrails  protruded.  Others  had  pins  stuck  beneath  the 
nails  of  their  fingers,  or  the  nails  themselves  torn  out  by 
the  roots.  Bishops  O 'Hurley,  O'Healy  and  Creach  suffered 
horrible  tortures.  Elizabeth  followed  a  plan  of  extermina- 
tion which  brands  her  as  the  most  coldblooded,  heartless 
and  execrable  tyrant  that  ever  desecrated  the  throne  of  a 
land  pretending  to  be  Christian.  Wherever  the  English 
soldier  passed  he  was  ordered  to  burn  the  houses,  destroy 
the  crops  and  kill  the  cattle  of  the  natives.  The  poet  Spenser 
says  of  the  Irish : 

"Ere  one  year  and  a  half  had  [passed  they  were  brought  to  such 
wretchedness  as  would  move  even  a  beart  of  stone.  Out  of  every  corner 
of  the  woods  and  glynns  they  came  creeping  forth  on  their  hands,  for 
their  legs  could  not  bear  them ;  they  looked  like  skeletons ,  they  spoke 
like  ghosts  crying  out  of  their  graves;  they  ate  the  dead  carrion — yea 
and  one  another  soon  after.  In  a  short  space  there  was  none  almost 
left,  and  a  most  populous  and  plentiful  country  was  suddenly  void  of 
man  and  beast.'' 


250  THE  THREE  AGES. 

To  replace  the  martyred  population,  Elizabeth  con- 
fiscated fully  three-fourths  of  the  landed  property  of  Ireland, 
and  granted  it  to  English  and  Scotch  colonists.  The  natives 
succeeded  in  repelling  the  invaders  two  times,  but  finally 
a  settlement  was  made.  These  foreign  colonists  were  legally 
the  absolute  masters  of  the  Irish,  while  they  were  their 
most  deadly  enemies. 

2.    Treachery  of  the  Stuarts. 

The  Irish  hailed  the  accession  of  the  Stuarts  with  joy, 
but  they  were  always  betrayed  or  ill-treated  by  them. 
James  I  proclaimed  an  amnesty  for  all  except  *  'Papists 
and  assassins".  It  was  he  who  carried  into  effect  the 
colonization  scheme  of  Elizabeth  and  planted  Ulster  with 
Scotch  and  British  adventurers.  Charles  I  allowed  his 
heartless  minister  Straiford  to  treat  Ireland  as  a  conquered 
country,  whose  inhabitants  had  no  other  title  to  their  land 
than  the  good  will  of  the  king.  He  started  a  system  of 
legalized  robbery  under  the  name  of  "an  inquiry  into  the 
titles  under  which  property  was  held",  and  he  appointed 
a  commission  on  defective  titles  in  Conn  aught  for  the 
purpose  of  dispossessing  the  Irish  landlords  and  colonizing 
the  province  with  Protestants.  The  whole  island  rose  in 
insurrection,  and  in  1642  formed  the  confederation  of  Kil- 
kenny, which  soon  became  master  of  the  land.  The  Scotch 
Presbj^terians  and  the  English  Puritans  revolted  against 
King  Charles,  gained  control  of  the  English  Parliament, 
and  made  war  on  their  sovereign  and  put  him  to  death. 
But  the  Irishmen  remained  faithful  to  him,  notwithstanding 
that  he  had  deceived  them  repeatedly.  Their  motto  was: 
"For  God,  king  and  country,  the  Irish  unanimously." 
While  the  natives  were  the  masters  of  Ireland,  revenge  was 
natural,  but  it  was  forbidden  by  the  chieftains;  while  the 
officers  of  the  Parliament  had  for  motto :  "Extirpate  the 
Irish  root  and  branch." 

3.    Persecutions  by  Cromwell  and  William. 

After  Oliver  Cromwell  had  executed  Charles  I  (1649), 
the  Irish  continued  to  stand  firm  for  the  royal  cause,  but 
they  were  overcome  by  the  Dictator  himself.  Cromwell 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  IRELAND.  251 

came  with  the  best  of  his  troops,  gained  a  number  of 
battles,  and,  to  frighten  the  people  into  submission, 
massacred  whole  cities,  like  Drogheda  and  Wexford. 
Nearly  half  the  population  perished ;  40,000  soldiers  emi- 
grated, and  50,000  young  people  were  sold  into  slavery. 
A  new  and  horrible  persecution  was  commenced  against 
the  clergy.  Five  hundred  priests  were  killed  and  1,000 
were  exiled  during  the  ten  years  of  the  Puritan  tyranny. 
The  second  confiscation  and  colonization  of  Ireland  took 
place  at  this  time.  All  the  property  of  the  Irish  people 
was  declared  confiscated,  and  Connaught  was  assigned  as 
their  residence.  That  part  of  the  country  was  bare  and 
desert,  and  contained  no  habitation  fit  for  a  human  being, 
and,  as  no  one  coveted  it,  the  nobles  and  the  poor  alike 
were  driven  thither  to  make  room  for  Protestants  and 
foreigners.  Cardinal  Moran  says: 

'"With  famine  and  pestilence  despair  seized  upon  the  afflicted  natives. 
Thousands  died  of  starvation  and  disease.  Others  cast  themselves 
from  precipices,  whilst  the  walking  spectres  that  remained  seemed  to 
indicate  that  the  whole  plantation  was  nothing  else  than  a  mighty 
sepulchre." 

The  population  was  reduced  to  500,000,  among  whom 
150,000  were  English  and  Scotch  colonists. 

When  James  II  granted  liberty  of  conscience  to  all,  the 
Protestants  called  in  against  him  his  sister  Mary  and  her 
husband  William  of  Orange,  who  defeated  the  royal  army 
at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  in  1690.  James  himself  fled  to 
France,  never  to  return,  but  the  Catholics  defended  Limerick 
until  they  were  promised  liberty  of  conscience  by  a  solemn 
treaty.  The  terms  of  this  compact  were  shamefully  broken, 
and  the  Irish  people  were  persecuted  more  than  ever. 
Their  priests  were  driven  out  of  the  country  or  tracked  by 
the  informers  who  swarmed  all  over  the  land.  A  third 
wholesale  confiscation  and  colonization  was  perpetrated. 
The  old  scheme  of  "inquiring  into  defective  titles"  was 
again  revived,  and  under  its  operation  1,060,792  acres 
were  forfeited  to  the  crown,  besides  the  10,636,837  already 
seized.  A  new  class  of  adventurers  were  introduced  into 
the  country,  consisting  chiefly  of  Dutch  and  German 
Protestants. 


252  THE  THREE  AGES. 

4.    Persecution  by  the  Georges. 

The  penal  laws  continued  with  unabated  vigor  under 
the  House  of  Brunswick.  Notwithstanding  their  sufferings, 
the  Irish  did  not  side  with  uthe  pretender"  Charles  Stuart, 
when  he  attempted  to  recover  by  force  the  crown  of  his 
ancestors ;  but  they  were  as  violently  persecuted  as  if  they 
had.  Nobles  were  hurried  to  prison,  priests  were  torn 
from  the  altars.  Then  appeared  those  Jewish  miscreants 
known  as  pries tcatchers,  who  pretended  to  be  priests 
themselves,  for  the  sake  of  ferreting  out  the  real  priests 
and  betraying  them  to  the  persecutors.  One  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  were  offered  for  the  conviction  of  a  Bishop, 
and  fifty  for  that  of  a  priest  or  a  schoolmaster. 

IV.    INFAMOUS  PENAL  LAWS. 

Cobbett  remarks  that  more  than  a  hundred  enactments 
of  the  British  Parliament  are  directed  against  the  Catholic 
religion.  Edmund  Burke  says  that 

"the  penal  code  was  a  machine  of  wise  and  elaborate  contrivance,  and 
as  well  fitted  for  the  oppression,  impoverishment  and  degradation  of  a 
people  and  the  debasement  in  them  of  human  nature  itself,  as  ever  pro- 
ceeded from  the  perverted  ingenuity  of  men." 

The  Irish  Parliament,  composed  of  creatures  of  the 
English  Court,  was  still  more  cruel  and  unjust  than  the 
English  Parliament,  and  respected  no  laws,  whether  Divine 
or  human.  The  Catholics  were  deprived  of  all  rights, 
political,  educational,  religious,  civil  and  industrial.  A 
Catholic  could  not  sit  in  Parliament,  nor  exercise  the  right 
of  suffrage.  He  was  disqualified  from  resorting  to  the 
courts  of  law,  and  even  from  holding  the  lowest  office  of 
trust  and  profit.  To  instruct  a  Catholic  was  a  penal 
offence.  A  Catholic  teacher  was  subject  to  imprisonment, 
exile  or  death.  Although  deprived  of  schools  at  home, 
Catholics  might  not  go  abroad  for  an  education  under 
penalty  of  perpetual  outlawry.  All  priests  were  banished 
from  Ireland,  under  pain  of  transportation,  and,  should 
they  return  a  second  time,  of  being  hanged,  drawn  and 
quartered.  Those  who  concealed  or  harbored  them  forfeited 
all  their  property ;  and  those  who  informed  against  them 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  IRELAND.  253 

received  a  high  reward.  Six-sevenths  of  the  land  of  the 
Irish  Catholics  was  confiscated,  and  the  pitiable  remainder 
hardly  belonged  to  them.  They  could  neither  buy  land 
nor  lease  it  for  more  then  thirty  one  years.  It  is  a  wonder 
how  any  Catholic  Irishmen  survived  such  a  persistent  and 
unsparing  persecution.  Divine  Providence  must  have  mira- 
culously fed  and  sustained  Christ's  faithful  witnesses  in  the 
hour  of  their  dire  trials. 

It  was  only  at  the  outbreak  of  the  American  and  the 
French  revolutions  that  the  mountain  of  iniquitous  oppres- 
sion piled  up  apon  the  Catholics  commenced  to  be 
demolished.  Every  concession  was  grudgingly  given,  and 
only  when  it  seemed  unavoidable.  Backed  by  the  Irish 
Volunteers,  Gratton  created  an  Irish  Parliament  in  Dublin 
(1780—1798).  But  it  was  suppressed  when  the  "United 
Irishmen,"  fired  by  the  French  Infidels,  arose  against  the 
English  government.  O'Connell  kept  on  a  peaceful  agita- 
tion, and  in  1829  he  carried  through  Parliament  the  Eman- 
cipation Bill,  by  which  Catholic  disabilities  were  in  great 
measure  removed.  From  1845  to  1847  and  from  1879  to 
1880  terrible  famines  afflicted  Ireland,  and  4,000,000 
people  emigrated  in  half  a  century.  The  Fenian  Brother- 
hood arose  to  violently  remedy  the  evils  arising  from  the 
past  confiscations.  Less  wise  and  less  moderate  than 
O'Connell,  it  failed  in  its  revolt.  However,  it  succeeded  in 
compelling  the  attention  of  the  English  government  to  the 
crying  needs  of  the  country.  Parnell  introduced  the 
method  of  obstructing  all  but  Irish  business  in  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  he  organized  a  land-league  to  force  the  reduc- 
tion of  rents.  Gladstone  staked  all  his  popularity  and 
power  to  give  home  rule  to  the  Irishmen,  but  even  this 
great  statesman  could  not  sufficiently  overcome  the  long- 
standing prejudice  to  accomplish  this  result.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1899  a  system  of  complete  and  perfect 
local  self-government  went  into  operation  in  Ireland,  and 
with  the  endowment  of  a  Catholic  university  and  the 
repeal  of  the  law  prohibiting  a  Catholic  from  occupying 
the  post  of  Lord-Lieutenant,  measures  which  are  con- 
fidently expected  in  the  near  future,  the  last  official  remains 
of  the  era  of  persecution  will  have  disappeared. 


254  THE  THREE  AGES. 

V.    HONOR  TO  WHOM  HONOR  IS  DUE. 

We  admire  the  heroic  band  of  Greek  warriors  at  Ther- 
mopylae, and  the  devoted  Christian  knights  at  Rhodes, 
who  defended  European  liberty,  civilization  and  religion 
against  the  masters  of  Asia.  The  sons  of  Erin  are  heroes 
as  great  and  undaunted  as  they,  for  they  alone  in  the 
North  maintained  the  true  faith  against  the  masters  of  the 
seas.  We  admire  the  martyrs  of  Rome  who  for  three 
hundred  years  were  hunted  down,  and  found  no  other 
refuge  than  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  from  their  obscure 
Catacombs  ascended  the  throne  of  the  Caesars.  For  three 
hundred  years,  in  like  manner,  the  Irish  were  ground  to 
dust,  starved  to  death,  or  driven  to  distant  shores. 

But  the  storm  of  persecution  served  only  to  scatter  the 
precious  seed  of  faith  over  all  the  world.  Today  more 
than  15,000,000  of  Catholic  Irishmen  fresh  from  the  fire 
of  persecution  stand  up  in  America,  Australia,  Africa  and 
India  as  well  as  in  Ireland  to  proclaim  their  Catholic  faith 
before  the  doubting  Protestants  and  the  scoffing  infidels. 
Endowed  with  superior  qualities  of  mind  and  body,  they 
are  destined  to  wield  an  immense  influence  in  the  civilized 
world,  and  to  build  up  and  adorn  the  Church  of  God  in 
every  cline. 

By  their  martyrdom  for  Jesus  Christ  the  Romans 
deserved  to  have  the  seat  of  Papacy  in  their  midst;  by 
their  devotedness  to  the  Church  the  Franks  became  for 
centuries  the  instruments  of  God's  work  upon  earth;  for 
their  heroism  in  driving  the  Mussulmans  from  the  West, 
the  Spaniards  received  the  control  of  the  New  World.  So 
upon  the  Irishmen,  who  have  maintained  in  the  north  the 
full  faith  of  Christ,  the  religious  leadership  in  the  English- 
speaking  world  has  devolved ;  through  them  will  come  the 
reconversion  of  the  ruling  peoples  of  our  times,  provided 
they  continue  to  make  themselves  worthy  of  the  heroic 
deeds  of  their  fathers. 


CHAPTER  THIRTYFIFTH. 
PROTESTANT  DESPOTISM. 

The  hour  cometh  that  -whosoever  killeth  you  will  think  that 
he  doth  a  service  to  God.    JOHN  XYI,  2. 

I.  SEPERATISTS  ENSLAVE  BOTH  BODY  AND  SOUL. 

PROTESTANTISM  is  represented  by  its  friends  as  an 
emancipation  from  the  Popes ;  but  it  was  an  enslave- 
ment of  body  and  soul  to  the  temporal  rulers.  Even  great 
Protestant  writers,  such  as  Guizot,  Macaulay,  Lecky, 
Hallam  and  Gibbon,  deplore  the  violence  with  which  the 
Reformation  was  forced  upon  the  people.  Hallam  says: 

''Persecution  is  the  deadly  original  sin  of  the  Reformed  churches; 
that  which  cools  every  honest  man's  zeal  for  their  cause  in  proportion 
as  his  reading  becomes  more  extensive." 

In  fact  the  Episcopalian  and  Lutheran  sovereigns 
undertook  to  rule  the  consciences  of  their  people,  and 
imposed  Protestantism  on  all  their  subjects.  The  Calvin- 
is  ts  overthrew  the  governments  of  their  countries,  and 
suffered  no  one  to  live  among  them  who  did  not  profess 
assent  to  their  creed  and  participate  in  their  Pharisaic 
practices.  Once  the  masters  of  the  souls  of  the  people,  the 
Protestant  rulers  made  themselves  also  the  masters  of 
their  bodies,  and  brought  back  to  Europe  the  absolute 
governments  and  the  standing  armies  of  the  Pagan  Caesars 
and  the  Mohammedan  Khalifs.  The  Catholic  princes  were 
tempted  by  their  example  to  arrogate  to  themselves  the 
same  absolute  authority  though  it  never  ceased  to  be  held 
in  check  by  the  power  of  the  true  religion  in  proportion 
to  the  thoroughgoingness  of  their  Catholicity.  The  history 
of  Europe  for  two  hundred  years  was  chiefly  the  story  of 
the  violence  and  warfare  by  which  the  Protestants  sought 
to  compel  their  subjects  or  fellow-citizens  to  change  their 


256  THE  THREE  AGES. 

religion;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  unceasing  struggles 
of  the  Catholics  to  preserve  their  religious  liberty  and 
maintain  their  old  faith. 

II.  TYRANNY  OF  EPISCOPALIAN  KINGS. 

In  modern  history  three  Protestant  dynasties  have 
been  intruded  into  the  throne  of  England,  to  the  exclusion 
of  its  Catholic  heirs,  and  they  all  made  it  their  policy  to 
impose  and  maintain  the  Episcopalian  Establishment. 
Notwithstanding  their  cruelty,  the  Tudors  (1534)  had  not 
succeeded  in  perverting  the  faith  ot  even  half  of  England. 
The  Stuarts  (1603)  completed  their  work  and  forced  most 
of  the  people  to  conform  to  the  State  religion.  But  one  of 
them,  Charles  I,  paid  the  penalty  for  all,  and  was  beheaded 
by  Oliver  Cromwell.  The  Episcopalians  were  so  determined 
to  maintain  their  ascendency  that  when  the  Stuarts, 
having  re-ascended  the  throne  of  their  fathers,  had  become 
Catholic,  they  called  in  two  foreign  princes  to  rule  in  the 
place  of  their  legitimate  kings  James  II  and  James  III. 
At  the  extinction  of  the  Protestant  branch  of  the  Stuarts 
they  again  set  aside  English  princes  who  had  a  right  to 
the  crown,  and  the  Hanoverian  George  I  was  called  to  the 
throne  of  England,  where  he  founded  a  German  dynasty 
(1714).  Naturally  the  Georges  enforced  the  penal  laws 
against  the  Catholics,  as  they  had  been  called  for  that 
very  purpose. 

III.  VIOLENCE  OF  LUTHERAN  PRINCES. 

Luther  gained  the  princes  of  the  north  by  offering  them 
the  ecclesiastical  properties,  and  with  this  mercenary  end 
in  view  they  forced  Protestantism  upon  their  subjects. 
They  also  reestablished  the  absolute  governments  of  Pagan 
times,  and  kept  standing  armies  to  maintain  them.  Moles- 
worth  wrote  in  1692 : 

"In  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  there  is  a  resisting  principle  to 
absolute  civil  power ;  but  the  whole  of  the  northern  people  of  Protestant 
countries  have  lost  their  liberties  ever  since  they  changed  their  religion 
for  a  better." 

In  Germany  the  princes  arrogated  to  themselves  the 
power  to  change  the  religion  of  their  subjects,  according 


PROTESTANT  DESPOTISM.  257 

to  the  maxim:  Co/us  regio  illius  et  religio—  "He  who  rules 
the  land  also  prescribes  the  religion."  It  was  to  establish 
that  tyrannical  principle  that  they  made  the  League  of 
Smalcald  in  1530,  and  conspired  with  the  French  and  the 
Turks,  the  enemies  of  their  country  and  of  their  religion. 
They  carried  on  two  civil  wars  against  their  Emperor 
Charles  V;  and  although  defeated  they  obtained  by  the 
peace  of  Augsburg  the  power  to  Protestantize  all  secular 
states  but  not  ecclesiastical  territories.  In  the  Palatinate 
the  religion  was  changed  four  times  in  sixty  years. 
Against  the  express  provision  of  this  compromise  sixteen 
Prince-Bishoprics  were  secularized.  Germany  divided  be- 
tween the  *  'Evangelical  Union",  composed  of  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists,  and  the  "Catholic  League"  made  for  the 
defence  of  liberty  of  conscience.  The  great  Emperors 
Ferdinand  II  (1618)  and  Ferdinand  III  (1637)  protested 
against  such  outrages,  the  Protestants  started  a  fratricidal 
struggle  which  lasted  from  1618  to  1648,  and  is  called 
the  Thirty  Years'  War.  They  elected  as  Emperors  Frederic  V 
of  the  Palatinate,  Christian  II  of  Denmark  and  Gustavus 
Adolphus  of  Sweden,  successively,  and  they  sought  the 
help  of  France  in  their  rebellion,  knowing  that  that  country 
was  always  ready  and  eager  to  weaken  her  rival  the 
German  Empire.  Foreign  armies,  invited  by  the  insurgents, 
invaded  and  devastated  the  country;  and,  although  de- 
feated and  overpowered  by  the  Ferdinands  and  their 
generals  Tilly  and  Wallenstein,  the  Protestants  continued 
to  lay  Germany  waste  and  refused  during  eight  years  to 
listen  to  the  negotiations  of  peace  proposed  by  the  Emperor. 
Finally,  in  1648,  Ferdinand  III  obtained  the  peace  of 
Westphalia,  but  under  the  most  onerous  conditions. 
He  had  to  sacrifice  the  integrity  and  the  unity  of  the 
Empire.  Sweden  acquired  several  provinces  on  the  Baltic, 
and  France  several  on  the  Rhine.  Three  hundred  and 
sixty  five  independent  states  were  recognized,  and  the 
Lutherans  and  Calvinists  were  put  on  the  same  foot- 
ing as  the  Catholics.  This  was  the  parcelling  out  of 
the  land  that  had  first  divided  the  unity  of  the  Church 
of  Christ.  One  half  the  population  had  disappeared, 
and  the  remnant  had  to  defend  themselves  against  the 

17 


258  THE  THREE  AGES. 

wild  animals.  Germany  descended  to  a  second  rank 
among  the  powers  of  Europe  and  remained  there  for 
two  centuries. 

IV.    INTOLERANCE  OF  CALVINISTIC  PEOPLES. 
1.    Liberty's   Worst  Foes. 

With  the  word  ' 'liberty"  on  their  lips  the  Calvinists 
were  its  worst  enemies.  They  destroyed  the  liberties  of 
others  and  reserved  all  rights  to  themselves.  If  they  were 
not  the  masters  of  the  government  they  resorted  to  rebellion 
and  war  to  overthrow  it,  and  immediately  they  dictated 
their  creed  and  their  worship  to  every  one.  The}^  went 
under  different  names.  In  Switzerland,  Germany  and  Hol- 
land they  were  called  "Reformed",  in  Belgium  Gueux,  in 
Scotland  Presbyterians,  in  England  Puritans  and  in  France 
Huguenots. 


Germany-  and  Switzerland. 


During  the  Thirty  Years'  War  the  Reformed  of  Germany 
were  as  fanatical  and  disregarded  of  the  most  primary 
rights  of  their  fellow-citizens  as  were  the  Lutherans  them- 
selves. 

Even  in  ftjie  Switzerland  the  heretics  continually 
threatened  the;  liberty  of  those  who  remained  faithful  to 
true  Christianity.  The  original  cantons  of  Schwyz,  Uri 
and  Unterwalden  —  the  heart  of  Switzerland,  the  cradle  of 
Swiss  liberty,  £he  land  of  Tell  and  Winkelried,  —  remained 
Catholic  to  a-'hian;  but  they  had  to  take  arms,  together 
with  Luzerne&nd  Zug,  to  defend  their  liberty  of  conscience 
against  Zwingli,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  Cappel,  1530. 
But  they  still  had  to  remain  on  guard  against  the  en- 
croachments of  Calvin,  the  tyrant  of  Geneva.  The  in- 
tolerance of  the  Protestants  drove  multitudes  of  the  liberty- 
loving  Swiss  back  to  the  true  faith.  The  Catholics  had  a 
majority  in  the  diet,  and  granted  equal  rights  to  Catholics 
and  Protestants.  But  the  sectaries  continued  to  persecute 
the  Church,  and  in  1586  the  Catholic  cantons,  by  that 
time  seven  in  number,  were  obliged  to  form  themselves 
into  the  Golden  League,  for  the  defence  of  liberty  of  con- 


PROTESTANT  DESPOTISM.  259 

science.  The  reorganization  and  centralization  of  the  Swiss 
republic  tinder  Napoleon's  auspices  gave  the  Protestants 
the  control  of  the  government  and  deprived  the  cantons 
of  many  of  their  local  liberties.  In  1834  the  Liberals 
aroused  the  old  Calvinistic  intolerance  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  Catholic  cantons  were  obliged  by  their  encroach- 
ments to  unite  once  again  in  self-defence.  This  Sonderbund 
was  defeated,  but  the  rapid  decline  of  Protestantism  and 
the  indomitable  spirit  of  liberty  among  the  ever-faithful 
mountaineers  have  enabled  the  Catholic  Swiss  to  regain 
little  by  little  the  religious  freedom  for  which  they  have 
so  long  and  so  heroically  contended. 

3.    Scotland. 

In  Scotland  king  James  V,  and,  after  his  death,  his 
widow  Mary  of  Guise,  aided  by  Cardinal  Beaton,  who 
was  assassinated  on  this  very  account,  opposed  the  intro- 
duction of  heresy.  They  left  as  heir  their  daughter  Mary, 
yet  a  child,  who  was  afterwards  married  to  the  Dauphin 
of  France.  John  Knox,  who  had  been  exiled  for  his  treason- 
able violence,  had  passed  three  years  with  Calvin.  Recalled 
in  1559,  he  excited  the  mob,  and  persuaded  the  covetous 
nobles,  to  put  down  the  " Congregation  of  Satan"  as  he 
called  the  Catholic  Church,  and  to  exterminate  the 
"Canaanites",  as  he  called  the  Catholics.  In  1560  the 
Parliament  decreed  the  abolition  of  the  old  religion,  and 
the  establishment  of  the  Calvinistic  heresy  in  its  place. 
The  following  year  Queen  Mary  lost  her  husband  Francis  II 
of  France,  and  returned  to  Scotland.  She  did  not  attempt 
to  restore  the  old  worship,  but  simply  insisted  on  having 
the  Holy  Mass  celebrated  for  herself  in  her  own  private 
chapel.  But  the  fanatical  Knox  dreaded  the  winning 
graces  of  the  young  queen.  He  thundered  against  the 
Mass  as  an  " abominable  idolatry'7  and  denounced  the 
beautiful  queen  as  "an  impure  Jesabel".  It  is  here  especially 
that  this  dismal  pseudo-reformer  appears  as  "the  Ruffian 
of  the  Reformation",  reproaching  a  defenceless  woman 
with  his  own  crimes.  His  Protestant  contemporary  Laing 
says  of  him : 


260  THE  THREE  AGES. 

"Knox  himself  was  known  as  very  libidinous.  He  insulted  the  very 
wife  of  his  father,  and  could  hardly  pass  a  single  day  without  one  or 
more  women;  and  he  often  had  three  along  in  his  journeys  through 
Scotland." 

When  a  very  old  man,  he  again  married  a  young  lady 
of  noble  birth.  It  was  this  lewd  man  who  drove  to 
perdition  the  gentle  queen  whose  misfortunes  and  virtues 
have  won  the  sympathies  of  the  world.  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  married  her  cusin  Darnley,  who  proved  a  traitor  to 
her,  and  soon  was  murdered  by  Both  well.  This  man 
violently  abducted  her,  and,  after  keeping  her  in  captivity 
three  months,  compelled  her  to  accept  his  hand,  whilst 
her  enemies  were  heaping  up  calumnies  against  her.  In 
1567  her  half-brother  Murray,  at  the  head  of  a  rebel 
army,  forced  her  to  resign  her  throne  in  favor  of  her 
thirteen-months'  old  son,  James  VI,  and  he  himself  assumed 
the  regency.  Mary  Stuart  fled  to  England,  where  Eliza- 
beth kept  her  in  prison  for  eighteen  years  and  finally 
beheaded  her. 

4.    England. 

The  rigid  sect  of  the  Puritans  rejected  all  set  forms  of 
worship  and  held  that  each  congregation  was  by  Divine 
right  independent  and  a  law  unto  itself.  In  England  they 
were  leagued  with  the  Presbyterians  under  the  leadership 
of  the  fanatical  Oliver  Cromwell,  who  pretended  to  act 
only  by  the  inspiration  of  God.  In  1649  this  cruel  dictator 
beheaded  Charles  I  and  established  a  nominally  republican 
form  of  government  which  enabled  him  to  become  as  much 
of  a  despot  as  Henry  VIII  himself.  The  tyrant  was  so 
afraid  of  his  victims,  that  he  never  slept  more  than  two 
nights  in  the  same  bed.  The  " Pilgrim  Fathers"  who  had 
fled  from  religious  persecution  in  England,  established  it 
themselves  in  America  as  soon  as  they  became  the  masters 
of  a  foot  of  ground.  They  admitted  no  adherents  of  other 
sects  or  religions  into  their  territory,  and  they  treated 
the  Indians  as  Philistines  to  be  exterminated.  In  1692  at 
Salem  they  cast  into  jail  one  after  another  about  a 
hundred  honest  women,  and  executed  them  as  sorcerers. 
The  Catholic  colony  of  Maryland  and  the  Quaker  colony 
of  Pennsylvania  were  the  only  ones  that  established 


PROTESTANT  DESPOTISM. 


261 


religious  freedom,  and  their  territories  became  the  refuge 
of  the  dissenters  driven  away  from  the  other  colonies  by 
the  sects  that  dominated  them.  However,  so  incorrigible 
were  the  violent  instincts  of  heresy  that  the  Protestants, 
when  they  acquired  the  majority  in  Maryland,  disfranchised 
the  very  Catholics  who  had  sheltered  them.  Our  glorious 
Revolution,  thanks  be  to  God,  gave  freedom  at  last  to  all. 

5.    France. 

The  Hugenots  in  France  provoked  five  civil  wars  and 
created  disturbances  during  seven  reigns.  After  the  death 
of  Henry  II,  his  queen,  Catherine  de  Medici,  became  regent 
for  his  sons  Francis  I  and  Charles  IX  (1559)  and  also 
controlled  Henry  III  (1574)  who  had  been  king  of  Poland. 
To  maintain  herself  she  sometimes  intrigued  with  the 
Hugenots.  These  were  only  a  hundredth  part  of  the 
population,  but  the_r  were  allowed  freedom  of  worship, 
while  they  denied  that  same  right  to  the  immense  majority 
of  the  nation.  Subsidized  by  Protestant  powers,  they 
carried  on  ferocious  civil  wars.  They  killed  3000  people 
at  Orthez  and  burned  900  towns  in  Dauphiny;  and  they 
murdered  4000  priests  and  destroyed  20,000  churches. 
The  Duke  of  Guise  organized  the  Catholics  to  resist  such 
outrages,  and  naturally  the  most  ardent  Leaguers  would 
sometimes  retaliate  on  their  oppressors,  although  they 
never  were  as  cruel  as  the  Protestants  had  been. 

The  "Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew"  is  often  represented 
as  a  retaliation  of  the  Catholics,  or  as  the  deed  of  the 
Church.  But  the  Church  neither  caused  it  nor  approved 
of  it.  It  was  a  political  measure  of  Catherine's,  to  get 
rid  of  rising  rivals.  She  alleged  that  the  Huguenots  had 
made  a  plot  against  the  life  of  the  king,  and  he  ordered 
that  on  St.  Bartholomew's  night  the  leaders  of  that  rebel- 
lious faction  should  be  put  to  death.  The  most  disting- 
uished Huguenots  had  just  come  to  Paris  to  be  present  at 
the  marriage  of  the  Protestant  Henry  of  Navarre  with  the 
sister  of  the  king,  and  most  of  them  perished  in  the 
massacre.  There  were  about  2,000  victims  in  all.  The 
last  of  the  five  great  Huguenot  wars  was  for  the  succes- 
sion to  the  throne  of  Henry  III,  who  had  no  children. 


262  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Henry  of  Guise  and  Henry  of  Navarre  were  the  contest- 
ants, and  therefore  it  was  called  the  War  of  the  Three 
Henrys.  The  Catholic  Guises  were  treacherously  killed* 
and  the  king  was  also  murdered. 

Henry  of  Navarre,  who  now  ascended  the  throne, 
sincerely  wished  the  peace  of  France,  and  summoned  theo- 
logical conferences  of  the  two  parties.  He  asked  of  both: 
"In  what  religion  can  I  save  my  soul?"  The  Calvinists 
answered,  "In  either";  but  the  Catholics  said:  "In  the 
only  true  Church  instituted  by  Christ."  He  knew  now 
from  both  that  the  Catholic  religion  was  a  sure  way  to 
to  Heaven;  he  embraced  it  sincerely,  and  he  founded  the 
great  Bourbon  dynasty,  which  occupied  the  throne  of 
France  for  two  centuries  and  a  half  (1593—1848):  By 
the  Edict  of  Nantes  he  granted  the  Huguenots  equal  privi- 
leges with  the  Catholics,  but  they  abused  their  liberty  and 
continually  disturbed  the  land.  The  Edict  was,  therefore, 
repealed  after  a  hundred  years  by  Louis  XIV,  and  many 
Huguenots  emigrated  to  Protestant  lands. 

6.    Netherlands. 

Protestantism  soon  penetrated  into  the  commercial 
cities  of  the  Netherlands,  and  a  mild  inquisitorial  court 
court  was  established  there  to  prevent  the  usual  disturb- 
ances by  the  fanatical  sectarians.  But  all  in  vain.  Under 
the  name  of  Gueux  the  Protestants  plundered  the  mag- 
nificent Cathedral  of  Antwerp  and  400  churches  in  Flanders 
and  Brabant  alone.  King  Philip  II  of  Spain  (1555—1589) 
sent  the  stern  Duke  of  Alva  to  put  a  stop  to  the  troubles. 
The  rebels  were  repeatedly  defeated.  A  corps  of  Sea-Gueux 
was  organized  by  them  under  the  fierce  Yandermarck,  who 
killed  more  innocent  people  in  1572  alone  than  there  were 
rioters  executed  by  Alva  during  the  six  years  of  his  admini- 
stration. Profiting  by  these  troubles  the  skilful  William 
of  Orange  invaded  the  country  with  an  army  of  German 
mercenaries,  and  in  the  end  succeeded  in  forming  the  seven 
northern  provinces  into  the  Union  of  Utrecht,  of  which  he 
was  the  Stadtholder  (1579).  He  had  always  pretented  to 
act  for  the  liberty  of  the  Protestants  and  the  Catholics 
alike;  but  he  now  proscribed  the  Catholic  religion.  Brabant 


PROTESTANT  DESPOTISM.  263 

and  Flanders,  because  of  the  persecutions  to  which  Catho- 
lics had  been  persistently  subjected  by  the  brutal  Protes- 
tants who  dominated  the  rest  of  f'c  Flemish  countries, 
refused  to  take  part  in  the  new  Union  and  formed  with 
the  Walloons  the  Confederation  of  Arras  for  the  defense  of 
their  religious  liberty.  They  clung  no  less  tenaciously  to 
their  civil  liberty  and  they  were  freer  under  the  subsequent 
governors  and  sovereigns  of  their  own  than  the  Hollanders 
were  under  the  House  of  Orange. 

V.    THE  SPANISH  INQUISITION  OUTDONE. 

Protestants  and  infidels  continually  speak  of  the 
Spanish  Inquisition,  to  offset  the  persecutions  and  wars 
which  they  and  their  ancestors  have  carried  on.  Without 
caring  to  discuss  the  methods  of  that  body,  we  cannot 
help  preferring  them  to  the  Protestant  persecutions.  In 
the  first  place,  it  was  a  regular  court  of  justice  for  the 
protection  of  the  Spanish  nation  against  the  attempts  of 
the  Jews  and  the  Moors,  who  had  crushed  them  under 
their  heel  for  eight  centuries,  to  again  betray  their  country 
into  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans  of  Africa ;  and  also 
against  the  turbulent  Protestants  who  for  two  hundred 
years  crimsoned  all  northern  Europe  by  their  atrocities. 
Secondly,  the  torments  of  the  Inquisition  and  the  number 
of  its  victims  have  been  exaggerated  by  Llorentel  beyond 
all  measure.  He  burned  the  official  documents  after  quoting 
them  fearing  that  his  lies  would  be  detected.  He  alleges 
that  there  were  1136  victims  annually,  while  all  great 
historical  writers,  including  Balmes,  Ranke  and  Prescott, 
are  agreed  that  the  real  number  was  not  one  tenth  so 
large.  In  his  letters  on  "the  Reformation  in  England" 
Cobbett  says: 

"Good  Elizabeth  killed  more  people  in  one  year  than  the  Inquisition 
in  all  the  years  of  its  existence.  One  religious  war  cost  more  lives  than 
all  the  convictions  of  that  court,  and  for  more  than  a  century  the 
Protestants  did  not  put  down  their  arms." 


CHAPTER  THIRTYSIXTH. 
PROTESTANT  DISSOLUTION. 

Every  kingdom   divided   against  itself  shall  be  made  deso- 
late.   MATTHEW  xn,  25. 

I.    NO  MEANS  OF  UNITY. 

TN  the  absence  of  any  supernatural  principle  of  unity, 
human  ambitions,  rivalries  and  discords,  powerfully 
assisted  by  the  impractical  principle  of  the  private  interpre- 
tation of  the  Bible,  divided  the  Protestants  into  numerous 
sects.  Each  of  the  original  heresiarchs  invented  a  special 
brand  of  sectarianism;  the  princes  organized  separate 
national  churches ;  and  in  the  end  multitudes  of  individuals 
concocted  private  religions  of  their  own.  Neither  the  open 
persecutions  carried  on  by  the  early  Protestants,  nor  the 
conciliatory  efforts  of  the  modern  "Evangelical  Alliance" 
could  keep  the  Protestants  in  unity.  And  none  of  the  new 
expedients — neither  the  union  conferences  of  the  Protestant 
preachers,  their  dogmatic  concessions,  the  interdenomi- 
national societies,  the  joint  versions  of  the  Bible,  or  the 
international  school  lessons — or  all  of  them  put  together, 
aided  by  all  the  zeal  of  the  officers  of  the  sects,  and  all 
the  generous  sacrifices  of  their  members  in  endowing 
institutions  of  learning  and  contributing  to  "missionary" 
enterprises,  can  ever  avail  to  unite  them  again. 

II.    WORKING  OF  LEAVEN  OF  REVOLT. 

Bossuet's  "History  of  the  Protestant  Reformation" 
convinced  the  great  philosopher  Leibnitz  of  the  impos- 
sibility of  maintaining  the  Protestant  system  of  private 
interpretation  of  the  Bible.  Indeed,  the  Protestants  have 
always  disputed  among  themselves  on  the  main  points  of 
Christian  doctrine  and  practice,  and  during  the  early  years 


PROTESTANT  DISSOLUTION.  265 

of  their  history  pronounced  against  each  other  the  most 
savage  curses. 

One  of  the  first  disputes  was  about  baptism.  The 
Anabaptists,  condemning  infant  baptism,  rebaptized  every 
one  who  joined  their  ranks;  and,  rising  in  revolt,  they 
laid  waste  central  Germany  until  100,000  were  slain  on 
the  battlefield.  In  Ley  den  and  other  cities  some  of  them 
ran  about  the  streets  naked,  sword  in  hand,  crying  that 
the  Lord  had  given  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  into  the 
hands  of  His  saints,  that  is  to  themselves,  and  that  all 
who  resisted  them  must  perish. 

The  dispute  about  the  " Lord's  Supper"  was  very 
bitter.  Carlstadt  denied  the  Real  Presence  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  for  which  reason  he  was  driven  from  Witten- 
berg by  Luther,  with  whom  he  had  a  violent  dispute  at 
Jena.  Zwingli  too  rejected  the  literal  sense  and  pretended 
that  the  words  "This  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood" 
meant:  "This  is  the  figure  of  my  body,  this  is  the  figure 
of  my  blood."  Luther  confounded  him,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  himself  attacked  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  trans- 
substantiation,  substituting  for  it  the  theory  of  con- 
substantiation  or  impanation.  The  Body  of  Christ,  he 
taught,  being  united  to  the  Divinity,  is  present  every- 
where, but  in  a  special  manner  in  the  Eucharist,  the  sub- 
stance of  the  bread  and  the  wine  remaining  but  being 
united  to  the  substance  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 
Zwingli  answered  that  if  the  literal  sense  be  once  admitted, 
no  other  interpretation  can  be  put  upon  the  text  than 
that  given  by  the  Catholic  Church.  Calvin  held  to  an 
interpretation  intermediate  between  the  consubstantation 
of  Luther  and  the  simple  memorial  theory  of  Zwingli.  He 
strenuously  insisted  upon  the  Real  Presence,  but  he  asserted 
it,  in  an  indefinite  way,  to  be  "purely  spiritual".  His  view 
seemed  to  be  that  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  were 
really  communicated  by  the  sacrament,  but  did  not  exist 
objectively  under  the  sacramental  species. 

The  third  great  dispute  was  concerning  the  existence 
of  seven  sacraments,  which  was  denied  by  Luther,  and 
proved  in  the  pamphlet  on  the  "Seven  Sacraments"  which 
was  published  as  the  work  of  Henry  VIII. 


266  THE  THREE  AGES. 

A  fourth  dispute  took  place  in  the  British  Isles  con- 
cerning the  power  of  the  ministers  of  the  new  doctrines. 
The  Presbyterians  and  Puritans  rejected  the  Episcopalian 
bishops  and  their  royal  popelet,  and  brought  Charles  I  to 
the  scaffold.  At  the  same  time  they  disputed  among  them- 
selves as  to  the  respective  rights  and  duties  and  privileges 
of  "presbyters,"  "elders,"  "deacons,"  and  "congregation s." 

Protestantism  almost  crazed  the  people  with  idle 
disputes  about  words.  By  reaction  from  the  cold  form- 
alism and  shallow  logomachy  and  lax  morality  of  the 
dominant  sects  in  the  16th  century,  there  arose  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  17th  an  extreme  and  one-sided  pietism, 
which  despised  all  theology,  and  tended  to  reduce  religion 
to  a  mere  sentimentalism.  Among  the  sects  that  owe 
their  origin  to  this  movement  are  the  Herrnhuters  in 
Germany  and  the  Methodists  in  England. 

The  Protestants  have  run  the  gaunt  of  all  the  heresies, 
changing  even  their  fundamental  principles.  They  com- 
menced by  asserting  the  total  corruption  of  human  nature 
by  the  fall,  and  they  have  ended  by  denying  that  any 
corruption  whatever  took  place,  thus  lapsing  from  Manich- 
eism  into  Pelagianism . 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  many  Protestants,  following 
out  Luther's  principles  to  their  logical  conclusion,  became 
"Freethinkers".  The  "Reformers"  had  restricted  reason  to 
the  interpretation  of  Biblical  texts,  and  the  Pietists  had 
rejected  it  altogether;  and  in  its  revolt  against  this  error 
the  new  school  went  to  the  opposite  extreme.  Individual 
reason  being  the  only  judge  and  interpreter  of  the  Bible, 
every  mystery  and  every  miracle  which  cannot  be  explained 
naturally  may  be  rejected,  and  regarded  only  as  a  myth 
or  a  fable,  used  to  teach  some  truth.  Thus  the  Bible  is 
considered  as  a  system  of  bold  and  lofty  mythology.  Or, 
again,  this  abuse  of  reason  may  go  so  far  as  the  utter 
rejection  of  the  Biblical  authority.  The  leakage  from 
Protestantism  has  been  appalling.  Rev.  T.  Jenkins  puts 
the  number  of  Protestant  communicants  at  thirtyfour 
millions,  to  wit:  Ten  in  America,  ten  in  the  British  empire, 
eight  in  Germany,  three  in  Austria,  two  in  Scandinavia, 
one  in  Switzerland  and  Holland  combined,  and  one  in 


PROTESTANT  DISSOLUTION.  267 

different  Catholic  countries.  There  are  only  a  few  thou- 
sands in  heathen  lands.  In  1875  the  Almanach  de  Gotha 
gave  70,500,000,  and  Hitchcock's  Analysis  50,000,000, 
and  in  1880  the  Deutsche  Reichzeitung  45,000,000. 
Chambers  Encyclopedia  gives  the  total  number  of  Pro- 
testants, including  all  Christians  who  are  neither  Catho- 
lics, nor  members  of  the  ancient  Oriental  sects,  nor  Jews, 
at  95,000,000,  and  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  does  not 
venture  to  claim  but  114,000,000.  There  may  be  that 
number  of  nominal  Protestants  but  not  more  than  one 
third  are  members  of  any  sect  or  profess  any  definite, 
religious  belief. 

The  separatist  spirit  of  Protestantism  penetrated  into 
Orthodox  Russia  and  Catholic  France.  The  Russian  peasants 
divided  into  fifty  sects.  A  mitigated  form  of  Calvinism 
arose  in  France  under  the  name  of  Jansenism,  and  when 
the  book  which  first  propounded  it  was  condemned  by 
the  Pope,  its  partisans  denied  that  it  contained  the  doc- 
trines attributed  to  it,  thus  bringing  into  question  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  See  in  a  new  and  subtle  way.  It 
was  one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  French  infidelity  which 
culminated  in  the  Revolution  of  1789,  but  it  was  itself 
overwhelmed  in  that  tremendous  cataclysm.  In  Holland 
it  gave  rise  to  a  little  sect  known  locally  as  the  ''Old- 
Roman",  which  adheres  to  the  Latin  Rite  and  still  has 
about  6000  members,  with  three  Bishops  and  a  real  clergy. 

III.     DISINTEGRATION  OF  SECTS. 
1.    Endless  subdivisions. 

Protestantism  is  a  gradual  fading  away  and  complete 
parcelling  out  of  Christianity.  Lutheranism,  Calvinism 
and  Episcopalianism  were  strongly  attached  to  at  least 
certain  tenets  of  the  Christian  faith;  besides  them  arose 
two  other  great  sects  with  less  religious  faith  and  some 
special  practices,  to  wit :  the  Anabaptists  and  the  Metho- 
dists. Out  of  these  five  main  Protestant  bodies  there 
have  sprung  fiftytwo  sects  of  importance,  \vhich  rejected 
still  more  of  the  Christian  doctrines,  and  out  of  these  in 
turn  came  three  hundred  new  denominations,  most  of 


268  THE  THREE  AGES. 

which  hardly  retained  the  tenth  part  of  the  Christian 
Revelation.  Thus  the  Protestants  have  fallen  into  as  many 
unhappy  divisions  as  there  are  days  in  the  year.  Which 
shall  I  follow  in  the  all-important  question  of  salvation? 
asks  the  perplexed  separatist;  Which  is  the  true  faith,  if 
any  is  true? 

Not  only  did  the  Protestant  sects  oppose  each  other, 
but  even  every  one  of  the  five  predominant  sects  passed 
through  fierce  discussions  about  its  fundamental  principles, 
to  wit:  the  Lutherans  about  *  'faith  only",  the  Calvinists 
about  absolute  predestination,  the  Episcopalians  about 
the  royal  popedom,  the  Baptists  about  the  necessity  and 
mode  of  baptism,  and  the  Methodists  about  religious 
sentimentalism . 

2.    Lutheran  Sects. 

In  1530  at  Augsburg  Melanchthon  was  directed  to 
formulate  the  Lutheran  creed,  and  gave  definite  expression 
to  Luther's  doctrine  of  faith  without  good  works.  But 
after  the  death  of  his  master  he  expressed  his  own  opinion 
that  some  good  works  were  required,  which  view  Arms- 
dorf  rejected.  In  1580  a  new  symbol  or  form  of  concord 
was  drawn  up  by  Andrea  at  Dresden,  rejecting  the  necessity 
of  good  works. 

In  1690  Spener  established  the  Pietist  university  of 
Halle,  to  oppose  the  cold  and  unfeeling  method  of  the 
university  of  Wittemberg.  He  neglected  forms  and  symbols 
of  faith;  but  he  inculcated  interior  piety  and  laid  special 
stress  on  the  spiritual  unction  experienced  by  true  believers. 
In  1726  Count  Zinzendorf  established  a  colony  of  pious 
Protestants,  called  Herrnhuters,  who  have  the  merit  of 
professing  a  tender  devotion  to  the  Passion  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

Rationalism,  though  silent  and  hidden,  was  already 
rife.  With  the  reign  of  the  infidel  Frederic  II  (1740—1786) 
it  became  outspoken.  The  kings  of  Prussia  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  organized  the  so-called  "Evangelical  church" 
and  ' 'Evangelical  Alliance"  to  resist  the  progress  of  the 
infidels  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Catholic  Church  on  the 


PROTESTANT  DISSOLUTION.  269 

other.  Notwithstanding  this  official  protection  Luther- 
anism  has  lost  the  majority  of  its  followers,  who  have 
drifted  into  infidelity. 

3.    Calvinistic  Sects. 

Calvin's  doctrine  of  unconditional  predestination  con- 
tinually disturbed  his  followers.  In  Holland  Arminius  of 
the  university  of  Leyden  moderated  that  idea  of  an  iron 
fate,  but  he  was  opposed  by  Gomar  and  condemned  at 
the  conventicle  of  Dordrecht,  in  1718.  His  followers  Barne- 
velt  and  Grotius  were  persecuted  by  Maurice  of  Orange, 
the  former  even  to  death. 

In  Scotland  Chalmers  (in  1843)  led  a  secession  from 
the  established  Presbyterian  sect,  and  organized  the  so- 
called  "Free-Church  of  Scotland",  from  which  several  minor 
sects  have  since  split  off. 

From  the  Calvinistic  stock  came  also  the  Universalists, 
who  suppose  that  all  will  finally  be  saved,  however  they 
may  have  lived;  the  Congregationalists,  who  maintain 
the  independence  of  each  individual  congregation;  and 
many  of  the  half-Christians  who  deny  the  Divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  like  the  Unitarians;  as  well  as  of  the  utter  un- 
believers, who  make  no  pretense  of  adhering  to  Christianity 
in  any  shape. 

4.    Episcopalian  Sects. 

The  sect  established  by  law  in  England,  and  imposed 
upon  the  people  by  stringent  legislation,  maintained  a 
certain  semblance  of  external  unity  for  a  while.  The  people 
soon  revolted,  however,  against  the  royal  lay  pope  and 
his  "bishops",  and  even  temporarily  overthrew  them,  under 
the  leadership  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  The  English  govern- 
ment had  confiscated  the  Catholic  institutions  without 
replacing  them  by  anything  capable  of  nourishing  piety  or 
enkindling  charity,  and  the  people  became  more  and  more 
indifferent,  and  were  drifting  away  from  all  semblance  of 
Christianity.  Against  this  indifferentism  arose  the  Metho- 
dists in  1729  and  the  Ritualists  in  1832.  John  Henry 
Newman  started  the  Tractarian  movement  to  prove  the 
Apostolicity  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  and  worship ;  and 


270  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Pusey  the  Ritualistic  movement  to  introduce  it.  Now  the 
Episcopalians  are  divided  into  the  high-church  party, 
which  aspires  towards  Catholicity  of  doctrine,  and  imitates 
Catholic  ritual  and  liturgy;  the  low-church  party,  which 
is  Calvinistic;  and  the  broad-church  party,  which  lays 
stress  on  the  State  supremacy,  and  tolerates  every  possible 
shade  of  opinion. 

5.     Methodist  Sects. 

In  1725,  at  the  University  of  Oxford,  John  Wesley, 
with  a  few  friends,  adopted  a  pious  method  of  life,  and 
opposed  it  to  the  dry  formalism  of  the  Protestant 
Establishment.  He  recognized  bishops,  as  a  kind  of 
head-preachers,  whence  his  sect  was  called  " Methodist 
Episcopal";  Whitefield,  who  had  been  for  a  while  his 
colaborer,  rejected  bishops  altogether  and  refused  to 
abandon  Calvinism,  and  to  him  the  so-called  " Calvinistic 
Methodists"  of  England  and  Wales  principally  owe  their 
origin. 

Some  of  the  Wesleyan  sectaries  thought  that  Christ 
had  abolished  all  moral  law,  and  they  led  dissolute  lives; 
but  the  "conference"  of  1771  established  a  minute  system 
of  supervision  in  the  sect.  For  a  century  the  laymen  had 
nothing  to  say  in  the  government  of  the  body,  but  now 
they  are  allowed  some  influence.  Wesley  sided  with 
England  in  our  " War  of  Independence".  After  it  he  made 
Coke  a  ubishop",  ordaining  him  himself,  and  sent  him  to 
organize  the  Methodist  sect  in  the  United  States.  On  the 
question  of  slavery  this  organization  split  into  two  distinct 
sects — Northern  and  Southern.  Another  important  sect, 
called  " Methodist  Protestant"  arose  by  the  secession  of  a 
large  number  of  persons  who  did  not  approve  of  the  cen- 
tralized form  of  government  of  the  Episcopalian  Methodists. 
There  are  now  in  existence  over  a  score  of  distinct  sects 
belonging  to  the  Methodist  stock. 

The  Quakers,  who  have  a  distinctive  garb  and  a  formal 
mode  of  speech,  reject  all  sacraments,  are  of  kindred  origin, 
as  are  the  Shakers,  who  forbid  matrimony  altogether  to 
their  followers. 


PROTESTANT  DISSOLUTION.  271 

6.    Baptist  Sects. 

The  Baptists  restrict  the  sacrament  of  baptism  to 
adults,  and  acknowledge  only  the  one  method  of  immersion. 
It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  it  is  the  sect  that 
takes  its  very  name  from  baptism  which  is  chiefly  re- 
sponsible for  the  fact  that  so  many  children  die  without 
that  sacrament  and  are  lost.  In  Luther's  time  Munzer 
rejected  infant  baptism  and  rebaptized  his  adherents,  hence 
he  and  his  followers  were  called  Anabaptists,  that  is, 
^Rebaptisers".  He  preached  communism  to  the  peasants, 
who  devastated  Germany  until  1525,  when  they  were 
finally  overpowered.  Eleven  years  later  Menno  Simonis 
brought  the  Anabaptists  to  moderation,  and  spread  their 
practice  of  adult  baptism  all  along  the  southern  shores 
of  the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea.  In  1633  his  followers 
organized  in  England  under  the  name  of  Baptists.  Now 
the  sects  of  this  group  form  a  very  numerous  element 
among  the  Protestants  of  the  United  States. 

Among  the  most  remarkable  of  the  Baptists  are  the 
Dunkards,  who  dress  plainly  and  discourage  marriage; 
and  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists,  who  celebrate  the  Sabbath 
instead  of  Sunday,  abstain  from  Pork,  and  look  for  the 
instant  reign  of  Christ  on  earth  for  a  thousand  years. 

7.    Strange  Superstitions. 

There  are  many  very  eccentric  sects  at  the  present  day, 
most  of  which  are  of  recent  origin.  The  Spiritists  com- 
municate with  the  evil  spirits,  whom  they  claim  to  be  the 
souls  of  their  departed  friends.  The  Salvationists  have  a 
military  organization  and  vocabulary,  parade  in  the  streets 
with  musical  instruments  and  banners,  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  indifferent,  and  go  into  the  slums  of  the 
cities  to  save  the  forlorn  ones.  The  Mormons  pretend  to 
have  received  a  Divine  Revelation  through  their  prophet 
Joseph  Smith  in  1827,  and  other  revelations  at  intervals 
ever  since;  and  the  most  powerful  branch  of  them  believe 
in  polygamy,  and  practiced  it  publicly  so  long  as  the  law- 
allowed.  The  Eddyites,  who  call  themselves  "  Christian 
Scientists",  believe  that  matter  has  no  existence  and  that 


272  THE  THREE  AGES. 

all  diseases  can  be  cured  by  mental  processes.  The  Blavats- 
kyites,  who  call  themselves  "Theosophists",  hold  a  com- 
plicated system  of  Asiatic  Paganism  on  the  supposed 
authority  of  certain  imaginary  hermits  in  Tibet  called 
Mahatmas. 

IV.     A  WORM  CUT  TO  PIECES. 

W.  L.  DeWette,  a  Lutheran  who  edited  a  critical 
edition  of  the  works  of  Luther,  described  the  decay  of  his 
sect  in  powerful  language.  As  it  is  the  most  cohesive  and 
the  most  earnest  of  all  the  Protestant  sects,  his  words  are 
applicable  to  Protestantism  as  a  whole.  He  says: 

"We  freely  admit  that,  as  in  outward  appearance  our  church  is  split 
into  numberless  divisions,  so  also  in  her  religious  principles  and  opinions 
she  is  internally  divided  and  disunited.  The  Lutheran  society  resembles, 
in  its  separated  churches  and  spiritual  power,  a  worm  cut  into  the  most 
minute  portions,  each  of  which  continues  to  move  along  as  it  retains 
power,  but  by  degrees  loses  and  at  last  at  once  drops  the  life,  the  power 
of  motion,  which  it  retained.  The  dissolution  of  the  Protestant  church 
is  inevitable ;  her  frame  is  so  thoroughly  rotten  that  no  further  patching 
will  prevail.  The  whole  structure  of  Evangelical  union  is  shattered,  and 
few  look  with  sympathy  on  its  tottering  or  its  fall." 


CHAPTER  THIRTYSEVENTH. 
THE   REAL   REFORMATION. 

By  their  fruits  you  shall  know  them.    MATTHEW  vn,  16. 

I.  REFORM  VERSUS  REVOLT. 

TTHE  Protestants  were  not  reformers,  but  revolutionists. 
Pretending  that  the  whole  of  existing  Christianity 
was  abuse,  idolatry  and  corruption,  they  attempted  to 
overthrow  it,  and  planned  a  new  religion,  devoid  of  intel- 
lectual or  moral  authority,  thus  causing  a  hopeless  decline 
of  faith  and  morals.  The  Catholics  respected  the  edifice 
built  by  Christ,  eradicated  the  evils  introduced  by  the 
world,  and  produced  a  wonderful  revival  of  religion.  For 
a  quarter  of  a  century  the  Bishops  studied  at  home  all 
the  novelties  proposed  by  the  Protestants,  and  they  dis- 
cussed them  for  another  quarter  of  a  century  at  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent.  Salutary  reforms  were  decreed,  which  all  the 
ministers  of  the  Church  vied  with  each  other  in  applying. 
The  Catholic  countries  shone  by  their  virtue  and  learning, 
and  three  vacillating  peoples  of  southern  Europe  returned 
into  fellowship  with  the  See  of  Peter. 

II.  THE  COUNCIL  OF  TRENT. 

The  Protestant  leaders  decided  everything  in  a  moment, 
and  formulated  their  novel  theories  in  the  heat  of  combat. 
The  Catholic  theologians  studied  the  new  questions  for 
half  a  century.  When  Luther  started  on  his  revolutionary 
career,  they  were  deliberating  reforms  in  the  Council  of 
Lateran  (1512—1517),  and  the  learned  Leo  X  (1515— 
1525)  gave  an  immense  impulse  to  sacred  as  well  as  to 
profane  science.  A  band  of  masters  was  ready  to  meet 
the  innovators  of  the  north. 

18 


274  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  self-appointed  "reformers"  acted  on  their  own 
individual  authority,  and  denounced  all  the  Doctors  of 
past  and  present  Christianity.  But  the  Catholic  Bishops, 
who  are  the  judges  of  faith  appointed  by  Christ,  left  their 
homes  and  their  flocks,  and  for  eighteen  years  deliberated 
together  at  the  Council  of  Trent  on  the  questions  raised 
by  the  Protestants.  Not  only  did  they  represent  the  learn- 
ing and  the  traditions  of  the  true  Christians,  but  they 
also  had  the  assistance  of  Jesus,  who  said  (Matthew 
XVIII,  20):  "Where  there  are  two  or  three  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  I  am  in  the  midst  of  them." 
Thus  the  Fathers  of  Trent,  like  other  Councils  of  the 
Church,  combined  the  human  and  the  Divine  sources  of 
light.  Although  Luther  had  at  first  appealed  to  a  General 
Council,  he  bitterly  attacked  its  convocation  in  his  Satanical 
book:  "The  Papacy  an  Institution  of  the  Devil." 

Originally  convoked  in  1545,  the  Council  was  adjourned 
on  account  of  the  plague  in  1547.  Having  convened  again 
in  1551,  it  was  threatened  by  the  Lutheran  Maurice  of 
Saxony  in  1552,  and  suspended  for  ten  years;  finally,  it 
reassembled  in  1562  and  closed  its  labors  in  1563.  The 
Protestant  Ranke  says  of  it : 

''Thus  the  Council  that  had  been  so  vehemently  demanded  and  so 
long  evaded,  that  had  been  twice  dissolved  and  shaken  by  so  many 
political  storms,  and  whose  third  convocation  had  even  been  beset  with 
danger,  closed  amid  the  general  harmony  of  the  Christian  world.  It 
may  be  readily  understood  how  the  prelates,  as  they  met  together  for 
the  last  time  on  the  fourth  of  December,  1563,  were  all  emotion  and 
joy.  Henceforth  Catholicism  confronted  the  Peotestant  world  in  reno- 
vated and  collected  vigor." 

Luther  was  crying  that  the  Papacy  was  a  devilish 
institution,  and  that  the  Mass,  the  sacraments,  indulgences, 
-and  prayers  to  the  saints  were  all  superstitions.  The 
Fathers  of  Trent  examined  the  records  of  Revelation  and 
the  annals  of  history  and  did  not  find  the  slightest  usur- 
pation in  the  power  exercised  by  the  Popes,  nor  any 
superstition  in  the  Christian  worship.  They  found  no 
ground  for  the  novel  doctrines  of  Luther,  and  condemned 
the  absurd  notions  of  faith  without  works  and  the  private 
interpretation  of  the  Bible.  They  defined  that  God  selected 
a  body  of  men  to  teach  His  doctrines  with  authority  and 


THE  REAL  REFORMATION.  275 

to  apply  His  merits  through  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  the 
Seven  Sacraments,  indulgences,  invocation  of  the  Saints 
and  prayers  for  the  dead.  As  unworthy  clergymen  had 
been  the  cause  of  the  ruin  of  Christianity  in  the  north; 
the  Council  prescribed  many  regulations  for  the  forming 
and  maintaining  of  a  pious  clergy  fit  to  be  the  instruments 
of  Christ  in  the  salvation  of  souls.  It  ordered  the  erection 
of  diocesan  seminaries,  the  gathering  of  the  Bishops  and 
the  priests,  according  to  the  ancient  custom,  in  synods, 
for  the  discussion  of  the  matters  under  their  charge,  and 
salutary  legislation  in  the  interests  of  religion;  the  resi- 
dence of  Bishops  in  their  dioceses,  and  the  weekly  instruc- 
tion of  the  people  by  the  pastors.  Finally,  it  enjoined  the 
preparation  of  a  solid  treatise  explaining  the  principal 
dogmas,  duties  and  sacraments,  a  decree  which  resulted  in 
the  famous  ^Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent". 

This  Ecumenical  Council  is  one  of  the  most  important 
ever  held  in  the  Church,  for  the  number  of  questions  to  be 
decided  and  the  difficulty  of  the  situation  to  be  dealt 
with.  It  confirmed  the  faithful,  put  a  stop  to  the  advance 
of  heresy,  and  inaugurated  a  genuine  reformation  in  all 
classes. 

III.    REVIVAL  IN  CATHOLIC  COUNTRIES. 

At  his  death  Luther  had  said:  " Alive,  O  Pope!  I  was 
thy  pest!  dead  I  will  be  thy  death!"  He  had  called  the 
Pope  and  the  Bishops  Antichrists,  and  the  priests  and 
monks  impostors  or  fools.  But  never  had  the  Church 
holier  ministers,  and  never  had  she  saints  and  doctors  who 
were  greater  in  themselves,  or  exerted  a  better  influence 
among  the  people.  On  the  throne  of  Peter  sat  the  holy 
Pius  V  (1566),  the  learned  Gregory  XIII  (1572),  and  the 
energetic  Sixtus  Y  (1585),  and  they  employed  all  their 
power  to  carry  out  the  salutary  decrees  of  Trent. 
St.  Charles  Borromeo,  the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  was  the 
model  of  Bishops,  and  the  most  ardent  promoter  of  the 
reforms  prescribed  by  the  great  Council.  Six  times  he 
assembled  the  Bishops  of  his  province  in  council,  and  he 
presided  over  eleven  synods  of  his  priests.  Everywhere  he 
spread  the  love  of  learning  and  the  practice  of  virtue,  and 


276  THE  THREE  AGES. 

he  exercised  a  charity  without  limit.  He  formed  a  holy 
clergy  and  he  changed  the  face  of  northern  Italy.  Monasti- 
cism  throve  in  the  old  orders,  and  in  twenty  three  new 
institutions  of  vast  learning  and  wide  influence.  Eminent 
men  created  the  Capuchin  and  Alcantarine  branches  of  the 
great  Franciscan  family;  the  Barefooted  Carmelites,  the 
Reformed  Augustinians  and  the  Benedictines  of  St.  Maur. 
Others  made  new  orders,  like  the  Thea tines  (1524),  the 
Barnabites  (1529),  the  Somaschans  (1530),  the  Jesuits 
(1535),  the  Brothers  of  Mercy  (1540),  and  the  Servants 
of  the  Sick  (1604).  Many  secular  clergymen  formed 
associations  to  better  sanctify  themselves  by  living  in 
community;  such  were  the  Oratorians  of  St.  Philip  Neri 
(1574),  the  Oblates  of  St.  Charles  (1578),  the  Lazarists, 
or  Priests  of  the  Mission,  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  (1624), 
the  Fathers  of  Christian  Doctrine  (1592),  the  Fathers  of 
the  Pious  Schools  (1648),  and  the  Brothers  and  Sisters  of 
the  Christian  Schools  in  France  (1651  and  1681). 

Among  women  also  the  religious  life  underwent  a  most 
extraordinary  awakening.  There  arose  among  others  the 
orders  of  the  Ursulines  (1537),  the  Yisitandines  (1618), 
the  Lorettines  (1603),  the  Sisters  of  Charity  (1634),  and 
the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd  (1646). 

At  the  moment  when  Luther  was  crying  that  the 
Catholic  Church  was  a  rotten  corpse,  there  existed  an 
extraordinary  degree  of  holiness  among  her  members.  We 
know  of  twentyeight  great  saints  at  that  time,  such  as 
Pius  V,  Charles  Borromeo,  Thomas  of  Villanova,  Ignatius 
of  Loyola,  Francis  de  Sales,  Vincent  de  Paul,  Philip  Neri, 
Alphonsus  Turibius  (Peru),  Francis  Xavier,  Francis  Borgia, 
Aloysius,  Stanislas  Kostka,  John  Berchmans,  Lewis  Ber- 
trand,  Andrea  Avellino,  John  of  God,  John  of  the  Cross, 
Peter  Alcantara,  Jerome  ^Bmilian,  Paschal  Baylon,  Felix 
of  Cantalicio,  Cajetan,  Catherine  of  Ricci,  Camillus  Lellis, 
Joseph  of  Leonissa,  Francis  Solano  (Peru),  Joseph  Cala- 
sanctius,  Teresa,  Frances  de  Chant al,  Mary  Magdalen 
de  Pazzi,  and  Rose  of  Lima  (Peru). 

Who  can  count  the  number  of  martyrs  who  died  on 
Protestant  scaffolds?  Who  will  number  the  heroes  who 
fell  on  the  Protestant  battlefields  or  the  phalanxes  of 


THE  REAL  REFORMATION.  277 

martyr   apostles  who  penetrated  into  the  wilderness  and 
perished  of  exposure  or  by  the  sword  ? 

There  were  scores  of  Catholic  theologians  who  im- 
measurably surpassed  the  brightest  lights  of  Protestantism. 
Such  were  Baronius,  Bellarmine,  Toletus  and  Peronius. 
Great  saints  and  illustrious  doctors  have  always  a  wide 
influence  in  the  world,  and  spread  the  love  and  knowledge 
of  the  lord  among  the  people.  Missions  by  the  monks, 
and  works  of  zeal  by  the  pastors,  spread  fervor  among 
the  masses,  and  colleges  and  universities  diffused  superior 
learning  and  solid  piety  among  the  upper  classes. 

IV.  RECONVERSION  OF  THREE  LANDS. 

Ignatius  of  Loyola  was  a  distinguished  knight.  Wounded 
at  the  siege  of  Pampeluna,  he  was  much  impressed  by 
reading  the  life  of  Jesus  and  of  the  saints.  What  especially 
delighted  him  was  the  heroic  courage  with  which  the  saints 
despised  the  things  of  the  earth  and  made  God  alone  the 
goal  of  their  efforts.  Looking  at  their  example,  he  asked 
of  himself,  as  St.  Augustine  had  done  before:  " What  these 
have  done,  can  I  not  do  also?"  He  was  converted  into  a 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  Hanging  up  his  arms  at  the  shrine 
of  Our  Lady  of  Montserrat,  he  retired  into  the  cave  of 
Manresa,  were  he  performed  his  famous  spiritual  exercises, 
which  were  meditations  on  the  ends  of  man  and  the  follow- 
ing of  Christ.  He  was  afterwards  inspired  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  the  recording  of  these  exercises  in  a  precious  volume 
which  has  been  a  guide  to  all  subsequent  generations. 

A  Divine  impulse  urged  him  to  found  a  spiritual  army 
to  promote  tke  greater  glory  of  God.  To  reach  that  end, 
he  commenced  his  classical  studies  when  he  was  thirty 
years  of  age ;  after  which  he  went  to  different  universities 
to  study  philosophy  and  theology.  At  Paris  he  formed  a 
company  of  distinguished  scholars,  and  with  them  created 
the  spiritual  militia  which  was  to  be  always  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  Father  of  the  Faithful.  Besides  the  three 
vows  of  poverty,  chastity  and  obedience,  common  to  all 
religious  orders,  he  required  a  fourth  vow  of  submission 
to  the  Holy  See.  To  raise  the  standard  high,  only  men  of 
trained  virtue  and  solid  learning  were  admitted  into  their 


278  THE  THREE  AGES. 

ranks,  and  seventeen , years  of  probation  were  required  before 
the  attainment  of  full  membership.  When  Paul  III  had 
examined  the  plan  he  exclaimed:  "Truly  this  is  the  finger 
of  God,"  and  he  confirmed  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1540. 
Ignatius  remained  the  General  of  the  order  until  his  death 
in  1556,  and  he  saw  his  sons  spread  into  all  the  lands  of 
Europe  and  even  to  the  most  distant  continents. 

The  Jesuits  where  the  Providential  order  raised  up  by 
God  against  the  Protestants.  If  Luther  had  sworn  death 
to  the  Popes,  Ignatius  swore  a  special  allegiance  to  the 
Successor  of  Peter ;  if  the  Protestants  were  fanatical  and 
reckless  in  their  undertakings  the  Jesuits  were  full  of 
enthusiasm  tempered  by  prudence.  Calvin,  who  feared 
their  strength,  gave  the  following  watchword,  which  is 
still  followed  by  heretics  and  infidels  generally:  "The 
Jesuits,  who  most  oppose  us,  should  either  be  killed,  or,  if 
this  cannot  well  be  done,  driven  away,  and  at  any  rate 
put  down  by  lies  and  slanders." 

Poland,  Southern  Austria  and  Southern  France  were 
under  the  control  of  the  Protestants ;  but  by  the  labors  of 
the  Jesuits  they  were  rescued  from  their  tyrannical  yoke. 
In  1550  the  Jesuits  were  called  to  Germany  by  Ferdinand  I 
of  Austria.  In  Bavaria  they  taught  theology  at  the  uni- 
versity of  Ingolstadt,  assumed  the  direction  of  the  diocesan 
seminaries,  and  established  many  colleges.  At  Vienna 
Blessed  Peter  Canisius  reformed  the  university,  which  had 
not  produced  a  single  priest  in  twenty  years ;  moreover, 
he  restored  life  and  piety  to  the  Catholic  body.  In  Poland 
and  in  France  like  results  were  produced.  Within  a  gener- 
ation all  was  changed.  Austria  was  made  unalterably 
Catholic ;  Poland  ranged  itself  definitely  on  the  side  of  the 
Church,  and  by  the  year  1580  the  Huguenots  of  France 
had  lost  two-thirds  of  their  number.  Catholicity,  which 
in  1560  seemed  doomed  to  destruction,  was  in  1600  tri- 
umphant in  all  Southern  and  Western  Europe. 

Not  satisfied  with  waging  their  apostolic  Avar  where 
the  Catholics  had  still  a  foothold,  the  Jesuits  penetrated 
into  England  and  Sweden,  nothwithstanding  the  fright- 
ful penal  laws  of  those  countries,  as  inhospitable  as  the 
frozen  Pole. 


THE  REAL  REFORMATION.  279 

V.     THE  CHURCH  ALONE  RENEWS  HER  YOUTH. 

There  is  a  striking  proof  of  Divine  life  in  the  perpetual 
self-reformation  of  the  Church.  Whenever  a  human  society 
decays,  or  changes  its  fundamental  constitution,  it  must 
fall  and  disintegrate  like  a  dead  tree.  The  Catholic  Church 
is  an  institution  exempt  from  that  fate.  A  simple  return 
to  the  old  plan  and  practices  renews  her  youth  and  her 
strength,  and  she  always  does  return  to  them.  She  elimi- 
nates the  abuses  that  must  arise  wherever  there  are  men, 
and  which  always  increase  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of 
subjection  of  the  Church  to  the  civil  power;  she  dismisses 
the  worldly  ministers  who  disgraced  her;  and  she  resumes 
her  primitive  splendor  and  ever  appears  as  the  spouse  of 
Christ.  That  is  one  of  the  historic  evidences  of  the  solemn 
truth  that  the  Son  of  God  built  her  on  a  rock,  and  that 
the  gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her  (Matthew 
xvi,  18). 


CHAPTER   THIRTYEIGHTH. 
DIVINE  APOSTLESHIP. 

All  power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and   on  earth;     going 
therefore  teach  all  nations.     MATTH.  xxvm,  19. 

I.    CONVERTED  BY  STUDY  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

T.  W.  M.  Marshall,  a  distinguished  minister  of  the 
English  Establishment,  made  a  special  study  of  the  history 
of  Christian  missions,  and  he  was  so  impressed  by  the 
superiority  of  those  carried  on  by  the  Catholic  Church 
that  he  gave  up  a  prominent  position  in  his  sect  to  become 
a  humble  disciple  of  the  true  religion.  He  compiled  a 
thousand  pages  of  Protestant  testimonies  in  a  book  called 
"The  Christians  Missions",  coming  down  as  far  as  1862; 
on  every  page  of  which  preachers  and  members  of  Protestant 
sects  acknowledge  the  miserable  failure  of  the  sectarian 
enterprises,  and  the  wonderful  success  of  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries. It  is  in  the  true  Church  of  God  that  the  spirit, 
the  method  and  the  success  of  the  Apostles  must  be 
looked  for. 

II.    THE  APOSTOLIC  SPIRIT. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  always  been  animated  by  a 
fervent  zeal  for  the  diffusion  of  the  Gospel.  It  converted 
the  civilized  pagans  and  the  wild  heathens;  it  addressed 
even  the  fanatical  sons  of  the  False  Prophet,  and  it  hastened 
to  give  its  message  to  the  savages  of  the  New  World.  The 
principal  aim  of  Columbus  was  to  "bear  Christ"  to  the 
heathens  of  unknown  lands.  In  his  second  voyage  (1493) 
he  had  twelve  missionaries  on  board.  All  the  religious 
orders  vied  with  each  other  in  the  propagation  of  the  faith. 
The  Popes  established  the  greatest  missionary  agency  that 
the  world  ever  saw  in  the  Congregation  of  Cardinals  for 


DIVINE  APOSTLESHIP.  281 

"the  Propagation  of  the  Faith",  and  the  College  of 
Propaganda,  to  train  missionaries  of  every  nation  and 
tongue.  Before  Luther  started  his  war  upon  the  Church, 
apostolic  men  sent  out  by  the  See  of  Rome  were  at  work 
in  Africa,  Asia,  America  and  Oceanica.  Today  they  are 
settled  on  the  most  forlorn  island  of  the  boundless  ocean 
and  the  most  remote  corner  of  the  Dark  Continent. 

Besides  the  Roman  Propaganda  there  are  many  great 
Catholic  missionary  societies,  like  in  France  the  Lyonese 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  in  Austria  the 
Leopold  Society,  etc.,  and  there  are  a  great  number  of 
missionary  colleges  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  like 
Mill  Hill  in  England,  Schent  in  Brussels,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  immense  missionary  enterprises  carried  on  directly 
by  special  religious  orders. 

No  sect  ever  showed  such  zeal  or  ever  achieved  such 
success.  The  early  heretics  built  up  no  lasting  churches  in 
farther  Asia.  The  Schismatic  Greeks  never  converted  a 
single  nation,  and  the  Russian  Schismatics  have  done  very 
little  for  the  evangelization  of  the  heathen  of  their  Siberian 
domain.  The  Protestants  were  three  hundred  years  with- 
out making  any  move  for  the  civilization  of  the  heathens ; 
and  they  started  only  when  the  French  Revolution  had 
stopped  the  supply  of  Catholic  missionaries,  when  they 
tried  to  reap  the  fruits  of  the  labors  of  the  monks,  but 
failed.  And  yet,  Episcopalianism,  in  particular,  has  had 
the  greatest  opportunity  that  any  religion  ever  had. 
England  rules  over  280,000,000  people  by  her  laws,  and 
over  as  many  more  by  her  influence.  But  in  the  first 
century  of  her  power  she  forbade  the  evangelization  of  the 
natives,  and  now  she  sends  out  missionaries  who  can 
never  succeed. 

III.    THE  APOSTOLIC  METHOD. 

The  method  of  the  Apostels  is  self-sacrifice  to  spread 
an  unquestionable  faith;  they  throw  themselves  among 
the  people  and  imbue  them  with  a  doctrine  for  which  they 
are  ready  to  offer  their  lives.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
Catholic  missionaries  are  monks  and  nuns  who  have  com- 
pletely renounced  this  world ;  they  seek  neither  pleasures, 


282  THE  THREE  AGES. 

nor  comfort,  neither  treasures  nor  glory ;  their  only  aim 
is  to  spread  the  faith  of  Christ.  Penetrating  among  the 
savages,  they  share  their  unwholesome  food,  and  brave 
the  greatest  dangers  and  the  most  frightful  torments. 
They  preach  by  their  very  lives  to  the  Pagans,  who  are 
often  much  impressed  by  their  self-abnegation  and  are  thus 
gained  to  their  master.  They  proclaim  the  unchangeable 
doctrine  of  Christ,  and  they  are  ready  to  die  for  every 
word  they  teach.  Thus  they  cannot  fail  to  make  a  lasting 
impression. 

Protestant  missionaries,  on  the  other  hand,  are  gener- 
ally worldly  men,  entangled  in  all  the  cares  of  a  family. 
The  budget  of  these  missions  surpasses  that  of  ordinary 
kingdoms.  It  costs  yearly  $10,000,000  to  support  5,000 
missions  in  1580  different  places.  Those  costly  missionaries 
stay  in  the  cities  with  their  wives  and  children,  usually 
under  the  protection  of  foreign  guns.  Many  of  them  are 
not  apostles  with  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  they  are 
tourists  and  travellers,  merchants  and  speculators,  full  of 
the  spirit  of  the  world.  Their  principal  work  is  to  distribute 
Protestant  Bibles  and  Pamphlets,  which  are  not  read. 
Enough  have  been  circulated  already  to  provide  every 
heathen  family  in  the  world  with  a  Bible  and  ten  tracts, 
but  they  heartily  despise  this  proselytizing  literature,  and 
use  it  for  profane  purposes.  Rev.  J.  D.  Krapf  of  Abyssinia 
says:  "The  use  is  the  wrapping  of  snuff,  and  such  like 
undignified  purposes."  An  insurmountable  obstacle  is  the 
multiplicity  of  sects,  warning  against  Rome  and  at  the 
same  time  quarrelling  among  themselves.  Lord  Elgin 
relates  the  following  words  of  a  Hindu: 

"Why  should  we  become  Chsistians  when  you  tell  us  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  Christian  world  adopted  a  creed  in  no  way  superior  to 
our  own  ?" 

Swanson,  Attorney-General  in  1856,  gives  the  following 
reply  of  a  New  Zealander : 

"You  Europeans  are  not  agreed  among  yourselves  what  is  the  true 
religion.  When  you  have  settled  among  3'ourselves  which  is  the  right 
road,  I  may  perhaps  be  induced  to  take.it." 

Marshall  calls  these  Protestant  contradictions  the 
greatest  and  last  scourge  of  heathenism.  It  is  the  con- 


DIVINE  APOSTLESHIP.  283 

viction  of  many  great  thinkers  that  if  Christianity  had 
not  been  split  asunder  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  world 
would  have  been  converted  by  this  time. 

IV.    A  TYPICAL  MISSIONARY. 

If  Luther  had  been  animated  with  the  love  of  pure 
Christianity,  he  might  have  gone  to  the  New  World  and 
formed  there  an  ideal  Christendom.  But  far  from  adding 
new  lands  to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  he  tore  away  from 
it  the  northern  nations,  which  are  now  fast  relapsing  into 
paganism.  While  Luther  was  proclaiming  that  the  Catholic 
Church  was  a  putrefying  corpse,  God  unmasked  his  im- 
posture by  raising  up  a  new  Paul  who  conquered  a  million 
of  men  to  her  sway.  This  was  no  other  than  St.  Francis 
Xavier,  one  of  the  co-founders  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The 
work  which  he  accomplished  during  ten  years  almost 
surpasses  belief.  He  edified  and  even  electrified  every  one 
by  his  holiness.  Landing  at  Goa,  the  Portuguese  capital 
of  India,  which  was  Christian  only  in  name,  he  passed 
through  the  streets  ringing  a  bell  to  summon  the  children 
to  catechism,  and  through  them  he  gained  the  parents  and 
the  whole  city;  and  he  established  a  college  for  the 
education  of  native  catechists.  He  did  the  same  thing  on 
the  Fishery  Coast.  He  went  to  Travancore,  a  kingdom 
entirely  Pagan,  and  in  a  few  months  he  made  it  entirely 
Christian.  This  mission  was  so  successful  that  he  was 
able  to  announce  to  Europe  that  within  a  month  he  had 
baptized  10,000  Hindus  with  his  own  hands.  By  day  he 
did  an  incredible  amount  of  work,  and  by  night  he  slept 
never  more  than  three  hours,  and  that  upon  the  bare 
ground.  The  rest  of  the  night  he  passed  in  communication 
with  the  Almighty,  and  he  was  so  overwhelmed  with 
celestial  consolations  that  he  often  cried  to  the  Lord:  "It 
is  enough,  Lord,  it  is  enough  !"  God  testified  to  his  servant 
by  many  and  wonderful  signs. 

The  miracle  of  Pentecost  was  often  renewed  for 
him.  He  sometimes  spoke  fluently  languages  which  he 
had  not  learned,  and  at  times  when  he  was  speaking 
in  one  language  to  a  crowd  of  hearers  of  diiferent 


284  THE  THREE  AGES. 

nations,  all  thought  they  had  heard  their  own  tongue 
spoken.  He  also  had  the  gift  of  healing  the  sick,  in  an 
eminent  degree,  and  often  he  communicated  it  to  his 
catechists  and  neophytes,  who  operated  miraculous  cures 
by  the  application  of  his  beads  or  his  crucifix.  In  a  great 
pestilence  all  who  suffered  themselves  to  be  baptized  and 
called  on  the  name  of  Jesus  were  healed.  His  process  of 
canonization  records  four  resurrections  from  the  dead.  In 
a  stubborn  village  of  Travancore  he  ordered  the  grave  of 
a  man  who  had  been  buried  the  day  before  to  be  opened. 
The  body  was  beginning  to  decay  and  gave  a  putrifying 
scent.  Falling  on  his  knees  and  making  a  short  prayer, 
he  commanded  the  dead  to  arise,  in  the  name  of  Almighty 
God.  At  these  words  the  dead  man  stood  up,  and  appeared 
not  only  living  but  vigorous.  From  Travancore  Xavier 
hastened  to  farther  India,  the  peninsula  of  Molakka,  the 
territory  of  Macassar  and  the  Moluccas,  and  the  Cannibals 
of  St.  Mauritius  and  Ternate.  There  were  terrible  reports 
of  the  cruelty  and  corruption  of  the  man-eaters,  but  these 
could  not  shake  the  courage  or  chill  the  zeal  of  the  Apostle 
of  the  Indies.  "If  aromatic  groves  and  mines  of  gold  were 
the  prize,"  said  he,  "there  would  not  be  wanting  those 
who  would  face  any  danger.  And  should  missionaries 
yield  to  merchants  in  courage  ?  If  I  save  but  a  single  soul 
I  shall  be  amply  repaid  for  my  toil  and  labor". 

Accompanied  by  a  converted  Japanese  of  high  rank, 
Francis  set  sail  for  Japan  in  1549,  and  landed  at  Cagoxima. 
He  preached  notwithstanding  the  greatest  difficulties.  In- 
vited by  the  king  of  Bongo,  he  was  received  with  honor, 
and  for  a  whole  day  answered  the  objections  of  the  bonzes 
or  Buddhist  friars  and  the  acute  questions  of  other  natives. 
Xavier  travelled  barefooted,  even  during  the  winter,  and 
suffered  much  from  heavy  rains,  great  drifts  of  snow, 
piercing  cold,  furious  torrents,  forebidding  mountains  and 
trackless  forests.  He  preached  in  Japan  only  two  years 
and  three  months,  but  he  made  so  many  and  such  strong 
Christians  that  nearly  2,000,000  shed  their  blood  for 
Christ  in  the  persecutions  which  followed,  and  that  after 
two  centuries  of  abandonment  (all  foreigners,  and  specially 
priests,  being  rigidly  excluded  from  the  empire)  whole 


DIVINE  APOSTLESHIP.  285 

communities  in  southern  Japan  were  found,  when  the 
missionaries  returned  a  few  years  ago,  to  have  still  pre- 
served the  Catholic  faith  and  such  of  the  practices  of 
religion  as  were  possible,  where  lay  catechists  constituted 
the  only  ministry. 

When  Xavier  had  preached  over  an  extent  of  three 
thousand  leagues,  gained  fiftytwo  kingdoms  or  tribes,  and 
converted  a  million  heathens,  the  indefatigable  missionary 
sailed  for  China,  an  empire  then  closed  to  every  stranger. 
But  he  died  in  the  island  of  Sancian,  in  the  fortysixth  year 
of  his  age.  Miracles  abounded  around  his  body,  and  he 
was  already  canonized  ten  years  after  his  death,  as  "the 
Apostle  of  India  and  Japan".  Francis  lived  again  in  his 
brothers  the  Jesuit  and  other  missionaries,  who  propagated 
the  faith  which  he  had  implanted  in  the  Far  East.  For 
three  hundred  years  that  country  has  been  the  battle- 
field of  the  Gospel,  as  Rome  was  during  the  first  three 
centuries.  May  the  blood  of  the  Christians  be  the  seed 
of  Christians !  May  a  new  Xavier  arise  to  reap  the 
harvest  planted  by  the  first  one! 

V.     ACTUAL  RESULTS  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 
1.    Asia. 

While  Protestantism  spent  all  its  energy  in  fighting  the 
existing  Christianity,  St.  Francis  Xavier  arose  and  moved 
the  whole  East,  and  converted  a  million  of  pagans.  Subse- 
quently his  fellow-Jesuits  Ricci,  Shall  and  Verbiest  aided 
by  the  prestige  of  their  science,  not  only  entered  the  heart 
of  China  but  penetrated  into  the  imperial  palace  of  Pekin ; 
and  they  made  so  many  and  such  firm  Catholics  that  at 
least  300,000  died  for  the  faith  when  the  Emperors  were 
turned  against  them  and  proceeded  to  exterminate  the 
followers  of  Christ.  In  India  Nobili  adopted  the  mode  of 
life  of  the  native  ascetics,  and  thus  gained  to  Christ  many 
Hindus  of  the  highest  castes,  baptizing  no  less  than  100,000. 
De  Rhodes  converted  82,000  and  Laynez  50,000.  The 
Church  of  Japan  was  for  two  centuries  and  a  half  under 
the  fire  of  persecution.  The  Dutch  Calvinists,  in  order  to 
get  a  monopoly  of  the  trade,  persuaded  the  Japanese  to 


286  THE  THREE  AGES. 

let  no  one  land  who  would  not  consent  to  abjure  Christ- 
ianity by  trampling  on  the  Cross;  they  also  contributed 
much  in  other  ways  to  aggravate  the  Japanese  perse- 
cutions. 

The  Protestants  made  but  few  true  conversions.  Ward 
says:  "The  whole  number  of  Protestant  converts  in  any 
sense  whatsoever  is  not  one-tenth  of  that  claimed  in 
missionary  reports." 

Scarth  wrote  in  1860 : 

"The  whole  number  of  Protestant  missionaries  in  China  probably 
exceeds  the  number  of  their  converts  who  are  not  actually  in  their  pay. 
As  for  their  colleges  they  turn  out  infidels  who  have  no  more  respect  for 
Jesus  Christ  than  for  Krishna." 

In  Ceylon  the  Protestants  spent  great  sums  of  money ; 
they  forced  300,000  natives  to  be  the  first  Calvinists  and 
then  "Anglicans".  Captain  Knox  says  of  these  converts: 
"Not  one  in  a  thousand  went  to  church;  as  soon  as  they 
were  free,  they  stopped  going  to  church,  and  the  only 
Christians  remaining  were  Catholics." 

2.    Oceanic  a. 

The  Philippine  Islands  have  been  Christianized  for  cen- 
turies; far  from  dying  out,  the  converted  natives  have 
prospered,  as  far  as  circumstances  would  allow,  and  now 
there  are  over  6,000,000  of  Catholics. 

It  was  the  contrary  in  many  of  the  Pacific  Islands. 
There  the  Protestant  missionaries  were  often  the  first  on 
the  ground ;  and  in  that  case  they  oppressed  and  tyrannized 
over  the  natives  and  have  been  gradually  rooting  them 
out.  Depopulation  is  a  law  in  pagan  lands  dominated  by 
Protestant  missionaries.  In  the  Sandwich  Islands  the 
natives  were  driven  to  church  and  dispossessed  of  most  of 
their  lands  by  the  missionaries.  Although  the  Catholic 
religion  was  at  first  cruelly  persecuted,  it  now  has  the 
adhesion  of  a  large  majority  of  the  natives. 

Before  a  Catholic  missionary  set  foot  in  Australia, 
England  had  shipped  there  thousands  of  convicts,  many  of 
whom  were  guilty  of  no  other  crime  than  that  of  their 
faith.  These  were  the  seed  of  the  young  and  energetic 
Church  of  Australia. 


DIVINE  APOSTLESHIP  287 

3.    Africa. 

Four  hundred  years  ago  Catholic  missionaries  had  not 
only  evangelized  the  coasts  of  Africa,  but  even  penetrated 
into  its  interior.  Its  deadly  climate,  and  the  fanaticism  of 
the  Mussulmans,  barred  their  progress ;  and  yet  they 
established  such  solid  churches  that  Livingstone  still  found 
Christians  after  several  hundred  years  of  complete  isolation. 
That  great  Protestant  explorer  and  missionary  did  not 
succeed  any  better  than  his  co-religionists  generalhr.  He 
says:  "We  were  promised  converts  to  the  Gospel,  and 
none  have  been  made.  The  thousands  subscribed  by  the 
universities  have  been  productive  of  only  the  most  futile 
results." 

The  main  obstacle  to  the  Evangelization  of  Africa  has 
remained  the  slave-trade  of  the  Mohammedans,  who  every 
year  sacrifice  2,000,000  negroes  to  their  inhuman  traffic. 
Cardinal  La  Vigerie  a  few  years  ago  aroused  an  European 
crusade,  to  stop  it  by  organized  methods  and  by  the 
strength  of  public  sentiment.  He  also  established  the 
White  Fathers,  for  the  spiritual  apostolate,  the  Knights 
of  the  Sahara,  to  protect  liberty,  life  and  religion,  and 
to  develop  civilization,  and  the  Sisters  of  St.  Clara,  to 
raise  up  the  enslaved  women  of  "Islam". 

4.     The  Levant. 

In  the  midst  of  Mohammedans,  Schismatics,  and 
the  remnants  of  the  early  heresies,  300,000  Catholic 
Maronites  have  maintained  themselves  on  Mt.  Lebanon. 
Fruitful  missionary  work  is  constantly  being  done  by 
Latin  missionaries,  as  well  as  by  the  representatives 
of  the  Catholic  Patriarchs  of  the  Greek,  Syrian,  Syro- 
Maronite,  Syro-Chaldaic  and  Armenian  Rites.  Cases  of 
the  return  of  large  bodies  of  schismatics  and  heretics 
to  Catholic  faith  and  unity  are  not  infrequent.  In  the 
single  year  1840  60,000  Armenians  returned  to  the  old 
Church. 

The  "Anglicans"  spent  great  sums  of  money  to  estab- 
lish themselves  in  Jerusalem.  Still  "Bishop"  Gobat  made 
only  one  convert,  who  afterwards  turned  Mohammedan! 


288  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  American  Protestants  spend  yearly  $50,000  to 
carry  on  missions  in  Armenia.  Perkins  used  to  pay  the 
sectarian  bishops  and  priests  for  permission  to  preach  to 
their  people,  and  meanwhile  wrote  boasting  letters  to  the 
United  States.  His  friend  Wagner,  who  visited  him,  heard 
him  say,  however:  "Almost  all  hope  most  be  given  up, 
in  the  case  of  the  present  generation."  He  himself  testified  : 
"If  we  except  a  few  Jews  won  over  from  motives  of  gain, 
these  expensive  establishments  have  made  no  converts." 

5.    Human  Means  Not  Sufficient. 

T.  Marshall  says: 

"Wealth,  talent  and  perseverance,  combined  with  unquestionable 
humanity  and  benevolence,  have  utterly  failed  to  obtain  results  which 
Divine  grace  alone  without  these  human  aids  has  power  to  accomplish. 
In  Ceylon,  as  in  every  other  land,  Protestant  missionaries  have  employed 
a  leverage  powerful  enough  to  move  a  world,  and  after  the  convulsive 
efforts  of  half  a  century  they  have  not  succeeded  in  lifting  a  straw." 


CHAPTER  THIRTYNINTH. 
MISSIONS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD. 

The  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb  and  the  leopard  shall|lie 
down  with  the  kid :  the  calf  and  the  lion  and  the  sheep  shall 
abide  together  and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them  .  .  .  they  shall 
not  hurt  nor  shall  they  kill  in  my  holy  mountain,  for  the  earth 
is  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  covering  -waters 
of  the  sea.  ISAIAS  xi,  6 — 9. 

I.    CHARACTER  OF  AMERICAN  NATIVES. 

'T'HE  natives  of  America  were  heathen  and  cruel  savages. 
All  were  sunk  in  barbarism,  except  the  Peruvians  and 
the  Mexicans,  who  were  half-civilized.  Although  they 
generally  recognized  a  Great  Spirit  and  Lifegiver,  they 
were  addicted  to  devil-worship,  and  tried  to  appease  the 
evil  spirits  by  human  sacrifices.  The  poor  women  were 
like  slaves,  having  all  the  work  to  do,  while  the  "noble 
Red  men"  had  nothing  to  do  but  hunt  and  fight.  Perpetual 
warfare  raged  among  the  Indians:  In  the  south  many 
practised  cannibalism,  while  in  the  north  they  carried  on 
destructive  wars  between  tribe  and  tribe.  Catholicity  and 
Protestantism  exerted  their  influence  upon  these  degraded 
children  of  nature,  the  former  for  their  civilization,  the 
latter  for  their  extermination. 

II.    UPLIFTING  OF  NATIVES  BY  THE  CHURCH. 
1.    Protection  from  Cruel  Adventurers. 

Zeal  led  great  Spaniards  to  America ;  and  when  cupidity 
brought  also  the  scum  of  Spain,  Church  and  State  alike 
protected  the  poor  natives.  Inhuman  speculators,  enslaving 
the  Indians,  divided  them  among  themselves,  and  worked 
them  to  death  in  mines  and  plantations.  When  the  red 
slaves  failed,  then  they  imported  black  ones  from  Africa. 
To  have  free  scope  in  their  oppression,  they  denied  that 

19 


290  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  Indians  were  men  and  had  a  rational  soul.  In  1537 
Paul  III  issued  a  Bull  declaring  the  Indians  "to  be  true 
men,  who  were  to  remain  unmolested  in  their  liberty  and 
their  property,  and  of  whom  it  was  unlawful  to  make 
slaves".  In  1516  the  kind-hearted  Dominican  friar  Las 
Casas  was  made  the  ''Protector-General  of  the  Indians". 
This  great  man  devoted  forty  years  of  his  life  to  vindicat  ng 
the  cause  and  alleviating  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  natives. 
He  wrote  volumes  in  their  behalf,  and  he  crossed  the  ocean 
no  less  than  twelve  times  to  plead  their  cause  before  courts 
and  monarchs.  St.  Peter  Claver,  of  Carthagena  (f  1654) 
was  the  Protector  of  the  Negroes.  He  baptized  m  re  than 
300,000  of  them,  whom  he  treated  as  his  children. 
Hundreds  of  missionaries  renewed  the  miracles  of  love  and 
heroism  of  the  apostles  of  the  first  centuries,  and  gained 
the  savages  to  Christ  in  vast  numbers. 

2.     Half-Civilized  Indians  of  the  Pacific. 

The  Pacific  coast  possessed  not  only  the  necessary 
trades,  but  also  some  of  the  refined  arts  of  civilized  com- 
munities. Mexico  and  Peru  had  cities,  roads  and  water- 
works, and  some  writings.  The  former  was  conquered  by 
Cortez,  1519,  the  latter  by  Pizarro,  1532;  and  both  were 
soon  evangelized.  Peru  became  a  thriving  Church  and  has 
produced  three  great  saints :  St.  Turibius,  Archbishop  of 
Lima,  St.  Rose  of  Lima,  and  St.  Francis  Solano,  the  Apostle 
of  the  Andes. 

The  Mexicans  offered  every  year  20,000  human  victims 
to  their  200  cruel  gods  or  demons,  but  especially  to  their 
terrible  wargod.  Prescott  says  of  him  : 

"His  temples  were  the  most  stately  and  august  of  the  public  edifices, 
and  his  altars  reeked  with  the  blood  of  human  sacrifices  in  every  city  of 
the  empire.  The  unhappy  persons  destined  for  sacrifice  were  dragged  to 
the  temple,  the  heart  and  head  were  offered  to  the  god,  while  his  votaries 
devoured  the  body  of  the  victim." 

No  wonder  that  the  gallant  Cortez  trembled  at  such  a 
frightful  sight,  and,  like  a  new  Josue,  overturned  the 
diabolical  shrines.  Three  religious  orders  soon  arrived  to 
evangelize  the  Mexicans.  The  Dominicans  and  the  Fathers 
of  Mercy  came  in  1526,  and  the  Franciscans  in  1542.  In 


MISSIONS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD.  291 

1551  the  Jesuits  opened  a  university  at  Mexico,  which 
became,  as  it  \vere,  the  "Rome  of  America".  Motilinis 
converted  400,000  natives. 

3.    Cannibals  of  the  Atlantic. 

The  thirst  for  human  blood  among  the  tribes  living 
on  the  islands  and  shores  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  was  so 
well  known,  that  their  name  of  Carib  or  Canib  has  been 
given  to  all  man-eaters.  However,  this  awful  custom  did 
not  frighten  the  missionaries,  who  were  truly  apostolic 
men.  They  converted  this  terrible  people  not  into  mere 
nominal  Christians,  but  into  such  strong  believers  that  the 
persecution  carried  on  by  the  Calvinists  from  1633  to  1653 
could  not  drive  them  into  apostasy.  The  Huguenots  cap- 
tured and  killed  no  less  than  seventy  Jesuit  missionaries. 

For  a  distance  of  2000  miles  along  the  coast  of  both 
Americas,  Indian  villages  had  been  established,  but  they 
were  exposed  to  the  violence  and  scandals  of  the  white 
men.  Therefore  the  Jesuits  commenced  to  form  new  settle- 
ments for  the  Christian  natives  in  the  interior  of  Paraguay, 
which  were  known  in  history  as  the  "Reductions".  They 
obtained  from  king  Philip  III  of  Spain  a  decree  prohibiting 
Europeans  to  settle  in  or  even  to  enter  that  country  with- 
out permission.  There  they  showed  what  true  mission- 
aries could  do  if  not  hindered  by  speculators.  There  was 
accomplished,  amid  races  so  barbarous  and  so  cruel  that 
even  the  fearless  warriors  of  Spain  considered  them 
irreclaimable,  one  of  those  triumphs  of  grace  which 
Voltaire  himself  considered  the  glory  of  humanity. 
Muratori  says: 

"Those  nations  who  formerly  were  like  wild  beasts  in  the  woods, 
caves  and  thickets,  thinking  only  of  murder  and  revenge,  continually 
craving  after  human  flesh  and  wallowing  in  drunkenness  and  lust,  those 
fierce  wolves  are  now  transformed  into  gentle  lambs  and  harmless  doves, 
exhibiting  for  the  most  part  such  modesty,  charity  and  devotion  and 
blamelessness  of  live,  that  in  them  we  see  reproduced  the  first  ages  of 
the  Church." 

The  Guarani  Indians  living  on  the  Paraguay  and 
Parani  rivers  were  voracious  man-eaters,  who  waged 
many  a  war  to  secure  human  flesh  for  their  banquets. 
The  missions  commenced  in  1586  and  were  suppressed  in 


292  THE  THREE  AGES. 

1767.  During  that  time  5000  Indian  villages  were 
established,  each  containing  about  600  people,  and  thus 
there  were  about  3,000,000  of  Indians  formed  into  a 
happy  republic  under  the  merely  nominal  suzerainty  of 
Spain.  Each  community  formed  a  family  under  the 
direction  of  two  Jesuit  Fathers:  one  of  whom  presided 
over  its  spiritual  interests  and  the  other  over  its  temporal 
interests.  The  authority  of  the  native  chiefs  was  not  done 
away  with,  but  simply  guided  with  loving  care  into  good 
and  useful  channels.  In  the  midst  of  each  village  arose 
the  church,  the  mission  house,  the  hotel  and  the  arsenal. 
The  one-storied  stone  houses  of  the  Christians  were  grouped 
around  them  in  the  form  of  a  square.  The  men  worked 
the  fields,  the  women  spun  and  wove.  Not  only  did  the 
men  excel  in  farm  work,  but  they  were  carvers,  painters  and 
gilders ;  they  cast  bells  and  cannons ;  they  were  able  to 
play  all  the  European  instruments,  and  to  make  com- 
plicated pieces  of  machinery.  The  day  began  and  closed 
with  prayer  and  singing  in  the  church,  and  the  bell 
announced  the  different  exercises  of  the  day.  They  were 
as  happy  as  in  a  paradise,  and  their  savage  brethren  when 
visiting  them  were  so  struck  by  their  happiness  that  they 
frequently  asked  permission  to  stay  and  soon  embraced 
Christianity.  The  Protestant  Ranke  says : 

''In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  we  find  the  edifice  of 
the  Catholic  Church  fully  reared  in  South  America.  There  were  five 
archbishoprics,  twentyseven  bishoprics,  and  innumerable  parishes.  Mag- 
nificent cathedrals  had  arisen.  All  branches  of  theological  studies  were 
taught  in  the  universities  of  Mexico  (1551),  Lima  (1557),  Quito  (1609) 
and  St.  Thomas  (1651)." 

In  1648  there  were  10,000,000  Catholics;  now  there 
are  45,000,000  and  eighty  five  episcopal  sees.  The  work 
of  conversion  was  so  solid  that  the  Catholicity  of  South 
America  has  been  able  to  weather  three  great  storms 
which  have  assailed  it,  to  wit:  The  suppression  of  the 
Jesuits,  the  Revolution,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  transition 
period.  In  1767  the  Jesuits  were  suppressed,  to  the  great 
loss  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  possessions  and 
specially  of  the  converted  tribes.  Soon  after  the  French 
Revolution,  and  the  occupation  of  Spain  by  Napoleon,  a 
series  of  agitations  and  revolts  began  which  ended  in  the 


MISSIONS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD.  293 

formation  of  a  large  number  of  independent  republics, 
which  unfortunately,  owing  to  Freemasonic  intrigues,  were 
in  most  cases  hostile  to  the  Church.  Gradually,  however, 
Catholicity  has  been  regaining  its  sway  during  the  present 
century,  as  the  people  have  been  growing  more  and  more 
disgusted  with  the  brutal  greed  and  tyranny  of  the  infidel 
bureaucrats.  The  people,  who  are  chiefly  of  Indian  and 
negro  descent,  are  still  in  process  of  transition  from  bar- 
barism to  civilization,  like  Europe  in  the  beginning  of  the 
early  part  of  the  Middle  Ages;  but  the  South  Americans 
have  a  strong  faith  and  abundant  resources,  and  in  due 
time  they  -will  constitute  nations  as  great  at  those  of 
Europe. 

III.    RUIN  OF  NATIVES  BY  THE  SECTS. 
1.    A  Contrast. 

The  Spanish  and  French  missionaries  showed  the  same 
apostolic  spirit  in  the  North  as  they  had  shown  in  the 
South.  The  Spaniards  had  formed  many  dioceses,  and  the 
French  had  made  the  tour  of  the  continent,  before  the 
Protestants  had  thought  of  the  savages  at  all.  Before 
their  departure  Robinson  had  preached  to  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  to  exterminate  the  Indians  as  the  enemies  of  God. 
In  Rhode  Island  the  poor  savages  were  sold  like  cattle 
and  in  Massachusetts  they  were  shot  like  wolves.  It  is 
calculated  that  over  180,000  of  the  original  inhabitants 
were  slaughtered  in  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Connecticut 
alone.  Were  not  the  Narragansets  wiped  out?  Was  not 
Philip's  son  sold  as  a  slave?  Halifax  offered  ten  guineas 
for  a  savage  or  his  scalp. 

When  the  negro  slave  trade  was  started  in  America, 
the  Protestants  did  not  protest  against  it,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  English  troops,  fitted  out  in  English  cities,  under 
the  special  favor  of  the  royal  family,  the  ministry  and  the 
parliament,  carried  off  from  Africa  during  the  years  from 
1700  to  1750  probably  a  million  and  a  half  of  slaves, 
one-eigth  of  whom  perished  in  the  passage. 

2.    Destruction  of  Spanish  Missions. 

The  Spanish  missionaries  went  to  Florida  in  1526, 
New  Mexico  in  1539,  Texas  in  1544,  and  California  during 


294  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  eighteenth  century.  Many  fell  martyrs  of  their  zeal; 
among  these  were  thirty  in  Florida  alone.  St.  Augustine 
was  built  in  1565,  and  is  the  oldest  city  in  the  United 
States.  The  Indians  settled  around  it  under  the  Catholic 
Spaniards;  but  when  Florida  passed  into  the  possession 
of  Great  Britain,  they  moved  away  from  the  Protestant 
Englishmen  and  returned  to  barbarism.  In  the  present 
century  a  revolt  of  the  Seminoles  cost  the  United  States 
20,000  men  and  $40,000,000. 

The  Pueblo  Indians  of  New  Mexico  became  like  white 
men  in  their  customs.  The  city  of  Santa  Fe  was  built,  on 
the  site  of  an  ancient  Indian  one,  in  1582.  In  the  eighteenth 
century  California  was  covered  with  flourishing  reductions 
or  missions  similar  to  those  of  Paraguay,  but  under  Fran- 
ciscan auspices.  In  1824,  however,  the  Mexican  governor 
Echienda  confiscated  them  and  delivered  them  over  to  the 
vilest  and  the  greediest  officials.  In  1847  the  Americans 
settled  there.  Those  of  the  natives  who  had  not  already 
fled  from  the  exactions  and  brutalities  of  the  Mexican 
'  'Liberals"  found  that  competition  with  the  aggressive 
English-speaking  colonists  was  impossible  and  soon  with- 
drew into  the  mountains  and  disappeared. 

3.    Hampering  of  French  Missions. 

Catholic  Englishmen  began  missions  in  Maryland,  but 
they  were  expelled  by  the  English  governor. 

The  French  missionaries  were  preaching  to  almost  all 
the  tribes  of  Canada  and  the  United  States  before  Eliot, 
the  first  of  the  Protestant  workers  among  the  Indians, 
had  started  his  Indian  villages  at  the  gates  of  Boston. 

Bancroft  enthusiastically  describes  the  apostolic  labors 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus  and  their  undaunted  heroism  in 
these  terms: 

"Not  a  cape  was  turned,  not  a  river  entered,  not  a  lake  discovered, 
but  a  Jesuit  led  the  way.  Few  of  them  died  the  common  death." 

Fifty  martyrs  are  known  among  them,  and  the  other 
clergy  did  not  lag  behind.  They  and  other  missionaries 
preached  to  the  Algonquin  (St.  Lawrence),  Huron-Iroquois 
(Lake)  Dakota  (Plains),  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific  tribes 
of  Indians. 


MISSIONS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD.  295 

The  French  started  a  mission  to  the  Abnakis  in  1608, 
but  they  were  hindered  by  the  English,  who  killed  the 
venerable  Father  Rales  at  the  foot  of  the  village  cross. 

About  the  year  1635  the  whole  nation  of  the  Hurons 
was  converted,  and  a  college,  a  convent  and  a  hospital  were 
erected  at  Quebec.  But  the  Dutch  and  English  Protestants 
of  New  York  excited  the  warlike  Iroquois  to  destroy  the 
missions.  The  Hurons  were  dispersed  or  exterminated,  and 
some  of  the  most  famous  of  the  martyrs  of  North  America 
received  their  crowns.  Father  Jogues  was  killed  at  Caugh- 
nawaga  in  1646,  together  with  Brother  Rene  Goupil.  At 
this  early  date  flourished  the  holy  maiden  Tegakwita, 
the  Lily  of  the  Mohawk. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  1649,  the  Iroquois  captured 
St.  Ignace.  Fathers  Brebeuf  and  Lallemeut,  notwith- 
standing the  entreaties  of  their  devoted  flock  that  they 
should  fly  and  save  their  lives,  insisted  upon  staying  to 
soothe  the  wounded  and  assist  the  dying.  They  were  soon 
in  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  who  commenced  their  torture 
by  tearing  out  their  nails,  and  covering  them  with  every 
ignominy.  Dragged  to  St.  Ignace,  they  entered  the  town 
only  after  "running  the  gauntlet",  cruel  blows  raining  on 
them  from  the  double  row  of  furious  savages  who  came 
out  to  meet  them.  Each  was  bound  to  a  stake.  The 
hands  of  Brebeuf  were  cut  off,  while  Lallem ant's  flesh 
quivered  with  the  awls  and  pointed  irons  thrust  into  every 
part  of  the  body.  This  did  not  suffice.  A  fire  kindled  near 
soon  reddened  the  tomahawks  of  the  persecutors,  and 
these  they  forced  under  the  armpits  and  between  the  thighs 
of  the  sufferers,  while  to  Brebeuf  they  gave  a  collar  of 
these  burning  weapons ;  and  there  the  missionaries  stood, 
with  those  glowing  irons,  seething  and  consuming  their 
very  vitals.  Amid  the  din  rose  the  voice  of  the  old  Huron 
missionary,  consoling  his  converts,  and  denouncing  God's 
judgement  on  the  unbelievers,  till  his  executioners  crushed 
his  mouth  with  a  stone,  cut  off  his  nose  and  lips,  and  thrust 
a  firebrand  into  his  mouth,  so  that  his  throat  and  tongue, 
burnt  and  swollen,  refused  their  office.  The  Indians  danced 
like  fiends  around  him,  slicing  of  his  flesh  and  devouring 
it  before  his  eyes,  or  cauterizing  the  wounds  with  stones 


296  THE  THREE  AGES. 

or  hatchets.  Some  apostate  Hurons  boiled  water,  tore  off 
his  scalp  and  thrice,  in  derision  of  baptism,  poured  the 
water  over  his  head  amid  the  loud  shouts  of  the  un- 
believers. The  eye  of  the  martyr  was  now  dim,  and  the 
torturers,  unable  from  the  first  to  last  to  wring  from  his 
lips  one  sigh  of  pain,  were  eager  to  close  the  scene.  They 
put  burning  coals  in  the  sockets  of  his  eyes,  hacked  off  his 
feet;  and  cleaving  open  his  chest,  they  tore  out  his  noble 
heart  and  devoured  it.  Thus,  says  John  Gilmary  Shea, 
from  whom  we  have  taken  most  of  this  account,  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  after  three  hours  of  frightful 
agony,  expired  the  greatest  of  American  missionaries  and 
martyrs.  All  night  long  they  tortured  Lallemand  in  a 
similar  way. 

From  the  blood  of  such  martyrs  sprang  an  abundant 
harvest  of  Christians.  In  1667  missionaries  were  again 
among  the  five  nations,  and  at  Caughnawaga,  on  one 
occasion,  they  baptized  2,200  Iroquois.  But  the  Protes- 
tant Englishmen  of  New  York  recommenced  their  usual 
intrigues,  and  the  missionaries  were  expelled  in  1687.  The 
Catholic  Iroquois  afterwards  left  New  York  and  settled 
near  Montreal. 

Allouez  advanced  west  of  the  Lakes  and  for  thirty 
years  he  labored  in  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Illinois,  and 
preached  to  more  than  twenty  tribes.  It  was  he  who 
secured  the  celebrated  Father  Marquette,  who  had  already 
founded  Sault  St.  Mary  in  1668  and  St.  Ignace  in  1671. 

Accompanied  by  Joliet,  this  great  pioneer  explored  the 
Fox  and  the  Wisconsin  rivers,  and  on  the  17th  of  June, 
1673,  his  canoe  shot  into  the  calm  transparent  waters  of 
the  Mississippi,  of  which  he  is  reputed  the  discoverer.  He 
descended  the  stream  until,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas, 
he  became  convinced  that  it  emptied  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico ;  and  he  then  returned  by  the  Illinois  river,  meet- 
ing the  Peoria  Indians  on  its  banks.  He  had  to  recuperate 
for  a  year,  and  in  the  fall  he  set  out  to  visit  the  Kaskaskia 
Indians,  but  the  Chicago  river  froze  up  and  he  had  to  pass 
the  winter  in  a  wretched  hovel  exposed  to  every  wind. 
He  arrived  among  the  Illinois  the  8th  of  April.  By  the 
aid  of  pictures  he  explained  the  mysteries  of  Jesus  and  the 


MISSIONS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD.  297 

glories  of  Mary  to  2,000  men  and  countless  women  and 
children.  He  celebrated  the  Holy  Sacrifice  on  a  rustic 
altar  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  prairie.  But  his  health 
was  \vrecked  and  he  had  to  return.  The  sorrowing  Illinois 
accompanied  him  to  Lake  Michigan,  and  he  began  to  coast 
the  unknown  eastern  shore,  towards  Mackinaw,  with  only 
two  companions.  He  sank  rapidly.  There  was  no  couch 
for  the  dying  missionary  but  the  canoe  rocked  by  the 
waves  and  the  earth  where  they  laid  him  at  night.  Ex- 
piring on  the  shore  he  thanked  God  for  permitting  him  to 
die  in  the  Society  of  Jesus,  alone  in  the  midst  of  the 
forests. 

There  were  successfull  missions  among  the  Natchez 
Indians  of  Mississippi  about  the  year  1700,  but  they  were 
subsequently  exterminated  by  the  Protestants. 

A  college  and  academy  were  started  at  Crescent,  and 
missionaries  went  to  Kansas.  Father  De  Smedt  alone 
could  pacify  the  Sioux  Indians,  and  rendered  more  service 
than  a  general  of  the  United  States  army.  In  1831  and 
subsequent  years  the  Flatheads  of  the  Rocky  mountains 
sent  four  delegations  to  obtain  ' 'black-go wn"  missionaries. 
Ten  years  later  De  Smedt  went  to  them,  and  he  performed 
wonders  in  the  way  of  conversions.  He  immediately  went 
to  Europe  for  supplies,  and  returned  with  four  Fathers 
and  five  Sisters.  The  Indians  of  the  Rocky  mountains 
were  almost  all  converted. 

At  the  same  time  the  coast  of  Oregon  was  being 
evangelized  by  Canadian  missionaries.  In  1843  the  Church 
there  was  organized  under  Archbishop  Blanchet  and  two 
Bishops.  Recently  Archbishop  Seghers  resigned  his  archi- 
episcopal  see,  to  plunge  into  frozen  Alaska  as  a  pioneer 
missionary,  but  he  fell  a  victim  to  an  assassin.  At  the 
present  time  there  are  Jesuits  conducting  missions  and 
Sisters  teaching  school,  in  Alaska,  who  have  communi- 
cation with  the  civilized  world  only  once  or  twice  a  year. 

4.    Results  of  Protestant  Interference. 

Today  there  are  in  the  United  States  about  250,000 
Indians,  two  fifths  Catholic,  and  the  rest,  for  the  most 
part,  still  heathen.  In  vain  have  Catholic  Indians  been 


298  THE  THREE  AGES. 

divided  among  the  sects,  and  bribed  with  goods  and 
money;  most  of  them  have  remained  faithful  to  Mother 
Church.  Marshall  says : 

"The  missionaries  would  have  done  in  the  northern  what  they  did  in 
the  southern  continent,  if  they  had  not  been  hindered  in  the  former  by  a 
fatal  impediment  from  which  they  were  delivered  in  the  latter.  If  Canada 
and  the  United  States  had  belonged  to  France  and  Spain,  instead  of  to 
England  and  Holland,  no  one  can  doubt,  with  the  history  of  Brazil  and 
Paraguay  in  his  hands,  that  the  inhabitants  of  both  would  have  remained 
until  today." 

But  God  did  not  leave  the  land  sanctified  by  his  ardent 
apostles,  and  watered  by  their  blood,  without  true  dis- 
ciples. Providence  has  directed  multitudes  of  Catholics 
from  Ireland,  Germany  and  many  other  lands  to  the 
United  States,  myriads  of  conversions  have  taken  place 
among  the  descendants  of  Protestant  settlers,  and  today 
that  part  of  the  Catholic  Church  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States  numbers  at  least  twelve  million  souls, 
besides  at  least  ten  million  unattached  adherents  —  persons 
who  would  have  to  be  counted  as  Catholics  rather  than 
Protestants  —  and  are  pretty  sure  to  send  for  a  priest  when 
they  think  themselves  about  to  die.  There  at  present  are 
fourteen  metropolitan  sees  and  provinces  and  eighty  suffra- 
gan and  assistant  Bishops,  with  2756  regular  clergy,  8383 
secular  priests,  over  ten  thousand  churches,  a  great  uni- 
versity, more  than  twenty  one  theological  seminaries,  846 
colleges  and  boarding  schools,  3581  parish  schools,  attended 
by  815,063  pupils,  and  over  755  charitable  institutions  of 
various  kinds.  No  less  than  forty  five  distinct  religious 
orders  of  men,  and  122  of  \vomen  are  represented.  Of 
these  at  least  three  orders  of  men  and  twenty  of  women 
are  of  native  origin. 


CHAPTER  FORTIETH. 
SPREAD  OF  INFIDELITY. 

As   they  liked   not   to   have   God   in   their  knowledge,  God 
delivered  them  up  into  a  reprobate  sense.     ROMANS  i,  28. 

I.     THE  OUTCOME  OF  PROTESTANTISM. 

"TTHE  spirit  of  Protestantism  penetrated  into  the  Catholic 
countries,  weakened  their  faith  and  made  them  a 
ready  field  for  the  operations  of  the  infidels.  Jansenism 
and  Caesarism  estranged  the  people  from  Christ  and  His 
Vicar  on  earth,  and  the  court  scandals  corrupted  their 
morals.  The  brilliant  writers  Voltaire  and  Rousseau, 
under  the  influence  of  the  English  and  German  infidels, 
attacked  and  mocked  Christianity,  and  made  infidelity 
fashionable  in  France  and  all  over  Europe.  The  enemies 
of  the  Church  contrived  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits,  the 
most  strenuous  defenders  of  the  true  religion,  seized  their 
colleges,  and  brought  up  a  generation  ripe  for  crime  and 
revolution. 

In  the  nineteenth  century  the  unbelievers  returned  to 
the  worst  errors  of  Paganism.  Some  adopted  the  Panthe- 
istic dreams  of  the  Orient,  making  of  this  world  a  mere 
network  of  vain  and  empty  illusions;  while  others  main- 
tained that  matter  alone  exists,  and  that  even  the  intellect 
itself  is  only  one  of  its  transitory  conditions.  The  Agnostics 
decline  to  acknowledge  a  God  they  cannot  understand, 
and  they  assert  that  all  that  exists  beyond  the  phenomena 
of  nature  is  the  Unknowable. 

II.     WEAKENING  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  FORCES. 

The  spiritual  life  of  France  was  paralyzed,  as  it  were, 
by  the  Jansenistic  heresy,  the  schismatic  spirit  of  the  so- 
called  Gallicanism,  and  the  public  corruption  of  the  higher 
classes.  Following  the  gloomy  ideas  of  Calvin,  the  Jansen- 


300  THE  THREE  AGES. 

ists  imposed  an  excessive  rigorism  which  the  people  could 
not  bear,  and  thus  disgusted  many  of  them  with  religion 
altogether.  Under  the  pretext  of  un worthiness  for  the 
reception  of  the  sacraments,  they  restrained  all  whom 
they  could  from  the  frequent  reception  of  the  means  of 
grace  and  thus  removed  them  from  the  Savior,  the  source 
of  our  spiritual  life.  Repeatedly  condemned  by  the  Popes, 
they  resorted  to  a  variety  of  subterfuges  and  false  miracles 
to  maintain  a  Catholic  appearance  before  the  people,  and 
they  combined  with  the  Gallicans  to  hamper  and  embarrass 
the  Vicars  af  Christ  and  the  true  Catholics  of  France. 

Louis  XIV,  and  a  century  later  Joseph  II,  sought  to 
unite  in  their  own  persons  both  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
powers.  Although  the  supremacy  of  the  Popes  over  the 
Universal  Church  had  been  solemnly  denned  at  the  Council 
of  Florence,  these  sovereigns  encouraged  their  clergy  to 
minimize  it  to  the  advantage  of  the  royal  prerogatives, 
and  thus  they  weakened  the  religious  sentiments  through- 
out their  domains.  Gallicanism  and  Josesphism  were  simply 
attempts  of  the  sovereigns  to  make  of  the  Church  a  state 
institution,  something  as  it  was  in  .Protestant  countries. 
The  Protestant  Pressense  truly  says  that  the  so-called 
"liberties  of  the  Gallican  Church"  were  "slaveries  to  the 
king." 

Most  of  the  secular  clergy  were  handicapped  by  those 
two  evils.  The  lower  clergy  were  benumbed  by  Jansenism, 
which  dried  up  the  very  sources  of  the  spiritual  life.  The 
upper  clergy  were  often  worldly  and  politicial  prelates 
who  did  nothing  for  Christianity.  They  were  mostly  re- 
cruited among  the  younger  sons  of  noblemen,  and  were  as 
much  courtiers  as  they  were  Bishops  or  Abbots.  It  was 
the  religious  that  had  best  preserved  the  warm  spirit  of 
Christianity,  and,  as  their  example  shamed  the  general 
apathy,  they  were  not  regarded  in  a  friendly  way  by  the 
seculars.  The  Christian  forces  were  frittered  away  and 
used  up  in  petty  disputes  among  the  Catholics  themselves ; 
and  there  was  no  superior  writer  to  stir  them  up  against 
the  infidels  who  arose  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  scandals  of  the  court  under  the  regency  and  during 
the  reign  of  Louis  XV  (1715— '74)  had  perverted  the  higher 


SPREAD  OF  INFIDELITY.  301 

classes  of  society,  and  they  welcomed  the  infidels  who 
mocked  at  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  The  greatest  obstacle  to 
the  progress  of  infidelity  was  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  there- 
fore their  suppression  was  to  be  brought  about.  By  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Freemasons  had  seized 
all  the  governments  of  southern  Europe  and  controlled  their 
policy,  and  soon  succeeded  in  compassing  the  suppression 
of  the  Jesuits.  The  prime  ministers  Pombal  of  Portugal, 
in  1759,  and  Aranda  of  Spain,  in  1765,  forged  letters  in 
the  name  of  members  of  the  doomed  order,  and  on  the 
strength  of  these  sought  to  persuade  their  sovereigns  that 
the  Society  of  Jesus  was  their  sworn  enemy.  Choiseul  of 
France  had  the  county  flooded  with  pamplets  against  the 
Jesuits,  representing  them  as  dangerous  teachers  of  im- 
morality. Notwithstanding  the  protection  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris  and  of  the  Pope,  the  Parliament  of  Paris 
in  1769  voted  in  favor  of  the  suppression  of  the  order. 
The  Bourbon  courts  obsessed  the  feeble  Pope  Clement  XIV 
to  this  end,  and  threatened  schism  and  war  if  the  whole 
order  was  not  abolished.  It  was  a  repetition  of  the  treaty 
between  the  lambs  and  the  wolves,  of  which  the  first  con- 
dition was  to  dismiss  the  dogs. 

At  last,  in  1773,  the  Pope  suppressed  the  order,  "moved 
by  reasons  of  prudence  and  state".      Afterwards  he  was 

often  heard  to  say:    Compulsus  veci "I  was  forced  to 

do  it".  He  rapidly  declined  in  health  and  died  the  follow- 
ing year.  The  22,000  Jesuits  obeyed  without  resistance; 
and  in  many  places  were  treated  most  barbarously  by 
their  enemies.  When  they  were  driven  out  a  great  cry  of 
victory  resounded  through  the  infidel  camp.  The  vanguard 
of  the  Christian  army  was  disbanded ;  the  rest  could  easily 
be  defeated  and  annihilated.  Hitherto  the  infidels  had  only 
infected  the  higher  classes;  now  they  could  destroy  the 
prestige  of  religion  among  the  masses.  The  educators  of 
the  youth  were  gone,  and  the  cold  Jansenists  could  do  no 
more  than  form  an  indifferent  youth,  useless  in  a  hand-to- 
hand  fight  for  Christ.  The  infidels  had  things  all  their 
own  way,  and  they  reared  up  an  impure  and  infidel  gener- 
ation. Within  twenty  years  the  most  polite  nation  of  the 
earth  was  turned  into  a  barbarous  mob  ready  for  un- 


302  THE  THREE  AGES. 

heard-of  crimes.  The  earnest  preachers  of  religion  and 
morality  were  silent,  the  dams  of  the  popular  passions 
were  burst,  and  there  broke  loose  a  deluge  of  vice  and 
iniquity. 

III.     "FREETHINKERS"  OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  English  Freethinkers  began  to  openly  attack  Christi- 
anity at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the 
German  rationalists  in  the  reign  of  the  infidel  Frederic  II. 
They  \vere  only  formulating  the  public  opinion  of  the  advanced 
element  of  the  Protestants,  who  were  drifting  away  from  their 
purely  human  substitute  for  the  true  religion.  The  French 
philosophers  adopted  their  impious  principles,  and  set  to 
work  to  undermine  the  strong  faith  and  pure  morality  of 
a  Catholic  nation.  However  the  public  mind  had  been 
embittered  by  the  disputes  of  the  Jansenists,  and  the  hearts 
of  the  people  had  been  seduced  by  the  licentious  example 
given  by  the  nobles  and  courtiers  of  Louis  XV.  A  band 
of  superior  writers  attacked  faith  and  morals  in  a  hundred 
volumes.  Sophism  and  sarcasm,  calumny  and  lies  were 
scattered  all  over  France,  and  agitated  the  whole  country. 
D'Alembert  and  Condorcet  openly  attacked  both  faith  and 
morals.  Voltaire  and  Rousseau  were  the  leaders  in  the 
onslaught:  The  first  aimed  to  destroy  Christianity  and 
the  latter  to  establish  Socialism.  Under  the  direction  of 
Voltaire  the  French  infidels  formulated  their  doctrine  in  a 
great  Encyclopedia,  in  which  they  attacked  religion  under 
every  form.  Although  swayed  by  the  same  devilish  aim, 
these  two  ringleaders  of  infidelity  loaded  one  another  with 
the  bitterest  reproaches.  Each  depicted  the  other's  character 
in  very  dark  colors,  and  they  certainly  knew  each  other 
thoroughly. 

In  his  youth  Voltaire  was  imprisoned  for  his  writings 
against  the  government  and  against  public  morals.  He 
stayed  two  years  in  England,  where  he  became  acquainted 
with  the  Freethinkers  and  affiliated  himself  to  the  Free- 
mas'ons.  He  also  passed  many  years  with  Frederic  II,  the 
infidel  king  of  Prussia.  He  was  immoral  and  impious  in 
the  extreme.  Luther  had  cherished  a  personal  hatred 
against  the  Vicar  of  Christ;  Voltaire  bore  just  such  a 


SPREAD  OF  INFIDELITY.  303 

hatred  against  Christ  himself.  His  motto  was:  Ecrasons 
TInfame — "Let  us  crush  the  Infamous  Thing";  and  this 
referred  to  Jesus  and  his  religion.  He  wrote:  "Within 
twenty  years  the  Galilean  will  be  done  for.  Can  we  not 
succeed  when  twelve  rascals  succeeded?"  He  lived  for 
fort}r  3rears  in  public  scandal.  Voltaire  wilfully  lied  without 
a  blush,  and  inculcated  this  practice  upon  his  followers. 
He  wrote  in  1736,  in  outlining  a  plan  of  campaign  against 
religion : 

"Lying  is  a  vice  only  when  it  harms.     You  must  lie    like  a    devil, 

not  timidly,  nor  once  only,  but  boldly  and   all  the  time Lie!  Lie! 

my  friends,  and  something  will  be  sure  to  stick!" 

Although  he  was  posing  as  the  champion  of  liberty 
and  enlightenment  he  took  part  in  the  slave  trade,  and 
opposed  the  education  of  the  masses.  He  wrote  on 
January  17,  1771 : 

"I  know  only  of  J.  J.  Rousseau  to  whom  I  could  reproach  those 
ideas  of  equality  and  independence,  and  all  like  chimeras,  which  are 
ridiculous." 

Another  time  he  says : 

"It  seems  to  me  essential  that  there  should  be  ignorant  poor;  they 
are  oxen,  needing  only  a  yoke,  a  goad  and  hay." 

Doctor  Tronchin  says  that  Voltaire's  death  was  one 
befitting  a  reprobate.  That  enemy  of  Christ  died  in  the 
most  awful  despair,  crying:  "The  Devil  is  there!  He  is 
trying  to  seize  me!  Oh,  drive  him  away!" 

J.  J.  Rousseau  from  a  Protestant  became  a  Catholic, 
from  a  Catholic  a  Protestant,  and  finally  from  a  Protestant 
a  rabid  infidel.  According  to  Chamber's  Encyclopedia  his 
life  is  a  tissue  of  immoral  intrigues  and  restless  wanderings 
from  one  place  to  another.  He  boldly  portrays  his  per- 
sonal vices  in  the  melancholy  book  of  his  Confessions. 
Wonderful  it  is  that  such  a  man,  who  could  not  govern 
himself,  attempted  to  reform  the  world  and  to  establish 
nothing  less  than  a  new  order  of  society.  His  ideal  was 
communism,  i.  e.,  a  society  without  any  superior  either  in 
Heaven  or  on  earth.  He  presents  this  singular  contrast, 
that  he  can  always  be  refuted  by  himself.  He  attacks  the 
Gospel  and  the  Christian  worship  with  the  bitterest  sar- 
casm, while  elsewhere  he  writes  sublime  pages  on  the 


304  THE  THREE  AGES. 

subject  of  that  Book,  and  exalts  the  majesty  and  the  pomp 
of  Catholic  worship. 

Deharbe  thus  describes  the  work  and  influence  of  these 
protagonists  of  infidelity : 

"Those  repulsive  men  popularized  infidelity  not  only  in  France  but 
in  all  Europe.  They  made  it  fashionable  in  Paris,  and  from  Paris  it 
spread  all  over  the  Continent.  At  that  time  Paris  gave  the  world  its 
dress,  its  manners,  and  its  social  culture.  When  therefore  infidelity 
became  fashionable  in  Paris,  its  triumph  throughout  Europe  was  assured. 
People  did  not  stop  to  think  and  to  argue,  to  assert  or  to  prove  that 
Christianity  is  false  or  unreasonable.  Infidelity  was  accepted  because  in 
Paris  and  in  France  cultivated  society  accepted  it.  It  spread  into 
Germany,  penetrated  into  its  universities,  and  tainted  with  its  absurdities 
the  great  literature  of  that  country.  Vienna,  Prague,  Heidelberg  and 
Bonn  were  its  centers,  Weishaupt,  Nicholai  and  other  professors  its 
apostles,  Frederic  II  and  Charles  of  Erthel,  ecclesiastical  elector  of 
Mentz,  its  great  protectors.  It  spread  also  into  Spain,  Portugal  and 
Italy,  and  came  into  power  with  Aranda,  Pombal  and  Tanucci.  More 
rapid  in  its  progress  than  the  revolt  of  Luther,  in  a  few  short  years 
infidelity  made  the  circuit  of  Europe,  and  in  twenty  years  presided  over 
the  destiny  of  every  throne,  save  perhaps  that  of  England." 

IV.    NEO-PAGANISM  OF  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  infidels  of  the  eighteenth  century  aimed  at  the 
destruction  of  Christianity  and  the  establishment  of  pure 
Deism.  Voltaire  erected  a  temple  to  the  Almighty  and 
Robespierre  celebrated  a  feast  in  honor  of  the  Supreme 
Being.  The  infidels  of  the  ninetenth  century  deny  the 
existence  of  a  personal  God,  or  at  least  refuse  to  render 
Him  homage.  They  have  turned  back  many  thousands  of 
years  and  relapsed  into  pantheistic  idealism,  materialism, 
and  pagan  indifferentism. 

The  German  Pantheists  adopted  the  fantastic  dreams 
of  old  India.  According  to  them  all  the  existences  and 
events  of  this  world  are  part  of  the  being  and  activity  of 
God.  In  us  the  Absolute  becomes  conscious  of  itself;  we 
are  gods,  therefore,  and  as  such  all  our  passions  are 
legitimate,  and  we  may  freely  indulge  them. 

The  *  'naturalist"  of  France  and  the  materialists  of 
England  deny  the  very  existence  of  spirits  of  any  kind, 
and  admit  nothing  but  matter  and  its  fatal  and  necessary 
development.  They  have  returned  to  the  false  and  shallow 


SPREAD  OF  INFIDELITY.  305 

philosophasty  which  ancient  Greece  tried  and  found  want- 
ing more  than  two  thousand  years  ago,  and  like  Leucip- 
pus  and  Democritus  suppose  the  whole  universe  to  be 
constituted  by  a  fortuitous  aggregation  of  atoms.  Accord- 
ing to  the  modern  materialists  the  whole  world  is  an 
evolution  of  matter,  and  our  mind  and  thought  are  nothing 
else  but  the  exclusive  product  and  operation  of  our  material 
brains.  Our  only  real  happiness  consists  in  the  gratification 
of  the  cravings  of  our  nature,  and  nothing  is  wrong  but 
what  diminishes  the  sum-total  of  the  pleasure  experienced 
by  the  human  race  in  this  world. 

Thus  the  infidels  hold  the  most  opposite  views  on  the 
nature  of  the  universe,  going  to  contrary  extremes,  like 
the  ancient  heretics.  The  idealists  make  everything 
spiritual,  while  the  materialists  make  everything  cor- 
poreal. Which  is  to  be  believed,  since  both  speak  in  the 
name  of  science  ? 

The  system  which  makes  the  whole  universe  either 
exclusively  ideal  or  exclusively  material  is  full  of  contra- 
dictions to  our  most  intimate  and  trustworthy  experience. 
Therefore  many  unbelievers  have  given  up  all  speculation 
about  the  ultimate  origin  of  the  universe,  admitting  that 
it  must  have  some  cause  outside  of  itself,  but  alleging  that 
we  cannot  know  anything  about  it.  They  therefore  call 
themselves  Agnostics,  i.  e.,  the  Unknowing,  They  say  that 
we  are  not  obliged  to  honor  the  Unknowable,  or  to  con- 
cern ourselves  about  it.  But,  on  the  contrary,  we  do  know 
that  a  Supreme  Being  made  us  and  provides  for  us  with 
a  fatherly  care,  and  that  the  generality  of  mankind  be- 
lieves that  He  has  made  known  His  will  to  His  creatures. 
We  also  know,  and  can  prove  to  right  reason  in  manifold 
ways,  that  the  Catholic  Church  is  His  Kingdom  on  earth, 
the  Guardian  of  His  Truth  and  the  Promulgator  of  His 
Law.  Consequently,  we  cannot  remain  indifferent  towards 
our  Maker,  under  the  plea  of  ignorance  of  His  nature,  but 
must  worship  and  serve  Him  in  the  way  He  has  com- 
manded. 

So  we  see  that  the  last  refuge  of  unbelief  is  a  plea 
of  ignorance,  which  bears  on  its  face  its  own  condem- 
nation. 

20 


306  THE  THREE  AGES. 

V.    INFIDELITY  REACTIONARY  AND  UNREAvSONABLE. 

Thus  the  non-Christians  of  our  day  have  relapsed  into 
the  worst  errors  and  vices  of  Paganism  and  Pantheism, 
which  are  as  old  as  human  corruption;  a  fact  which  is  a 
striking  proof  of  the  instance  of  the  degradation  that 
ensues  upon  the  rejection  of  true  Christianity. 

There  is  one  point  which  stands  out  prominently  in 
the  history  of  modern  infidelity:  It  is  a  conspiracy  of  a 
little  clique  of  men  organized  in  secret  societies,  to  impose 
their  theories  by  force  and  fraud  upon  the  unwilling  people. 

The  history  of  the  last  two  centuries  is  nothing  but 
the  history  of  the  criminal  efforts  of  the  unbelievers  to 
demolish  Christianity  and  bring  in  a  reign  of  license  and 
irreligion.  This  fact  is  in  itself  a  crushing  indictment.  If 
"rationalism"  is  so  reasonable  why  now  allow  the  people 
to  draw  their  own  conclusions,  and  in  their  own  way  and 
time  to  bury  Christianity  and  range '  themselves  under  the 
banner  of  umodern  enlightenment?"  If  infidelity  or  in- 
difference is  so  natural  to  mankind,  why  must  it  be 
imposed  by  intrigue  and  force? 


CHAPTER  FORTYFIRST. 
THE  ANTICHRISTIAN  CONSPIRACY. 

Why  have  the  Gentiles  raged  and  the  peoples  devised  vain 
things  ?  The  kings  of  the  earth  stood  up  and  the  princes  met 
together  against  the  Lord  and  against  His  Christ.  PSALMS  n,  1,  2. 

I.    LIBERALISTIC  MACHINATIONS. 

TTHE  self-styled  "philosophers"  continually  demanded 
"the  liberty  of  the  people",  but  as  soon  as  they  got 
into  power  they  appropriated  all  the  liberties  for  them- 
selves, and  rode  rough-shod  over  all  the  rights  of  others. 
They  did  not  leave  to  the  people  the  choice  of  accepting 
or  rejecting  their  plans;  but  they  imposed  them  by 
open  violence  or  secret  plot.  They  banded  together  in  an 
infernal  conspiracy  to  overthrow  the  Christian  order  of 
things,  under  the  name  of  Freemasons.  Although  there 
are  at  least  ten  important  branches  or  "Rites"  in  the 
Freemasonic  sect,  they  all  work  together  to  overthrow 
Christianity  and  to  supplant  it. 

II.    FREEMASONRY  UNMASKED. 

The  infidels  soon  began  to  band  together  under  the 
names  of  Freemasons  and  Illuminati.  In  1 717  the  Great 
Lodge  of  London  was  organized.  It  adopted  substantially 
the  same  rules  which  exist  today.  Lodges  were  opened 
at  Mons,  Belgium,  in  1721,  at  Paris  in  1725,  and  in  North 
America  in  1728.  In  1743  the  French  Freemasons  became 
a  distinct  body.  In  1776  Weishaupt  organized  the  German 
Freemasons  with  the  strictest  rules,  and  gave  the  last 
touch  to  that  infernal  organization.  To  advance  the  cause 
of  infidelity  the  Freemasons  of  the  Latin  countries  have 
ruined  their  own  nations  as  far  as  lay  in  their  power: 
they  have  corrupted,  revolutionized  and  plundered  them, 


308  THE  THREE  AGES. 

and  reduced  them  under  the  power  of  Noncatholic  govern- 
ments as  the  XL,  XLII  and  XLIII  chapters  plainly  show. 
In  the  course  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Freemasons 
prepared  the  fearful  events  of  the  French  Revolution.  First 
they  worked  themselves  up  into  the  highest  positions  of 
the  government;  then  they  engineered  the  suppression  of 
the  Jesuits,  and  finally  they  conspired  against  their  own 
countries  for  the  sake  of  their  sect.  Mirabeau  plotted 
against  his  king  at  Williamsbad,  1785.  Freemasons  killed 
the  Emperor  Leopold  II  in  1792.  In  every  land  the  Free- 
masons opened  the  door  to  the  arms  of  the  fanatical 
French  Revolutionists.  During  the  nineteenth  century 
Freemasonic  generals  and  officials  have  habitually  handi- 
capped their  respective  governments  either  by  leaving  their 
armies  without  the  necessary  armaments,  the  price  of 
which  they  have  pocketed,  or  by  delivering  them  up  to 
the  enemy,  and  thus  incurring  or  deserving  the  stigma  of 
treason  through  all  future  generations. 

All  this  may  seem  strange  to  readers  in  Protestant 
lands,  where  the  Freemasons  appear  to  respect  all  religions, 
and  their  lodges  appear  as  mere  social  and  mutual  benefit 
societies.  But  they  are  active  and  aggressive  in  Catholic 
countries,  and  there  publicly  proclaim  themselves  the 
enemies  of  Christianity.  If  the  Freemasons  of  the  English- 
speaking  lands  knew  the  diabolic  aims  and  the  intolerable 
tyrannies  of  their  brethren  in  Southern  Europe  and  the 
Latin-American  countries,  many  of  them  would  hasten  to 
shake  off  the  very  name. 

The  essential  nature  of  Freemasonry  is  everywhere  the 
same,  inasmuch  as  it  is  sectarian  in  its  character,  requires 
of  its  initiates  a  blind  and  therefore  immoral  oath  of 
obedience  and  secret,  and  is  more  or  less  manipulated  from 
a  common  international  center.  Its  workings,  however, 
are  very  different  in  Catholic  and  Protestant  lands.  In  the 
former  the  lodges  are  aggressive  against  the  Church,  while 
in  the  latter  they  seem  indifferent,  although  even  there 
they  rarely  fail  to  benumb  the  religious  instincts  in  their 
members,  and  weaken  any  ties  that  may  bind  them  to  any 
definite  form  of  religion,  especially  if  it  be  in  any  sense 
Christian,  whether  Catholic  or  separatist. 


THE  ANTICHRISTIAN  CONSPIRACY.  309 

The  Catholic  Church  opposed  Freemasonry  from  the 
beginning.  In  1738  Clement  XII  condemned  the  institution, 
and  no  less  than  eight  Sovereign  Pontiffs  have  since  repeated 
the  condemnation.  Even  the  courts  of  Vienna,  Naples  and 
Madrid  have  at  times  prohibited  that  revolutionary  society. 
The  Popes,  who  detected  the  evil  at  the  outset  and  fear- 
lessly denounced  it,  have  earned  the  gratitude  of  all  men 
who  are  sincerely  and  intelligently  devoted  to  order  and 
religion.  Unless  their  ever-watchful  eye  had  pierced  the 
darkness  that  enshrouds  these  gloomy  conspirators,  their 
machinations  might  still  be  unknown,  and  they  might  still 
be  able,  in  Catholic  lands  as  is  yet  the  case  in  Protestant 
ones,  to  delude  men  of  good  will  by  their  pretenses  of 
brotherhood  and  enlightenment.  Leo  XIII,  in  his  famous 
encyclical  on  the  subject,  graphically  describes  Freemasonry 
as  "the  Sect  of  Satan",  and  many  converted  Masons  have 
given  precise  details  about  that  devilish  conspiracy  against 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

III.  THE  LEAGUE  OF  DARKNESS  AND  OF  DEATH. 

Secrecy  usually  supposes  evil  designs.  Lodges  are  held 
with  locked  doors,  which  are  opened  only  at  a  password 
and  with  handgrips  known  only  to  the  initiated.  There 
are  innumerable  "degrees",  and  the  ulterior  aims  of  the 
organization  are  known,  at  least  in  Protestant  lands,  only 
to  a  certain  inner  circle,  which  is  comparatively  small  in 
number.  When  princes,  Protestant  ministers,  etc.,  become 
members  they  are  as  a  rule  admitted  readily  to  the  highest 
degrees  of  honor,  but  not  of  knowledge.  They  imagine  that 
they  are  perfectly  familiar  with  the  plans  and  membership 
of  the  society ;  but  the  only  thing  they  accomplish  is  to 
lend  their  influence  to  the  most  noxious  of  conspiracies 
against  mankind  and  its  Creator. 

Whatever  secrets  he  obtains  a  Freemason  is  obliged  to 
guard  under  the  most  terrible  penalties.  Thus  runs  the 
oath  of  the  lodges  of  the  Amis  Philantrophes  et  Discrets 
Reunis  of  Versailles : 

"May  my  lips  be  burned  with  a  red-hot  iron,  my  hands  be  hacked 
off,  my  throat  cut,  my  corpse  be  hanged  in  a  lodge  during  t  he  admission 
of  a  new  member  for  my  shame  and  their  terror,  and  my  ashes  be 


310  THE  THREE  AGES. 

scattered  to  the  winds  so  as  to  leave  no  trace  of  my  treason,  if  I  ever 
reveal  the  secrets,  the  signs,  the  words,  the  doctrines  and  the  customs 
of  the  brother-masons." 

The  Freemasons  place  their  order  above  anything  else, 
above  their  family,  their  county  and  even  their  own 
soul ;  they  hold  in  fact  the  principle  that  their  dupes 
mendaciously  attribute  to  the  Jesuits,  that  the  end  justifies 
the  means ;  and  they  do  not  shrink  even  from  murder  to 
attain  their  object.  At  every  degree  the  initiated  take  an 
oath  of  blind  obedience,  to  execute  whatever  may  be  com- 
mitted to  them,  without  reservations  for  conscience,  even 
to  murder  their  lodge-brethren,  their  fellow-citizens,  or 
their  legitimate  rulers  should  they  stand  in  the  way  of 
the  designs  of  their  ringleaders.  Many  of  the  assassin- 
ations which  cannot  be  traced  are  the  work  of  the  oath- 
bound  societies.  Was  not  the  killing  of  Morgan  in  1820 
the  acknowledged  deed  of  the  Freemasons?  And  what 
officer  could  ever  find  the  proofs  against  the  guilty 
assassins  who  were  well-known  in  Batavia?  Were  there  ever 
better-concerted,  bolder  or  more  public  murders  than  those 
of  Rossi  at  Rome  in  1848  and  of  Garcia  Moreno  at  Quito 
in  1 870  ?  These  are  only  a  few  instances  of  the  vindictive 
spirit  and  the  unscrupulous  methods  of  most  of  these 
sects.  Terror  reigns  among  the  enemies  of  light,  who 
dread  eac,h  other.  Many  persons  entrapped  in  the  dark 
society  dare  not  reassert  their  liberty ;  poor  wretches,  who 
have  lost  all  peace  in  this  world  and  all  hope  in  the  future. 
If  they  speak  or  leave,  or  resist  any  order,  they  see  before 
them  the  revolver,  the  poniard  or  the  poisoned  cup.  If 
they  remain  in  the  Sect  of  Satan  they  know  that  eternal 
fire  awaits  them. 

IV.    MEMBERSHIP. 

According  to  the  Masonic  Token  there  were  in  1898 
about  one  million  of  initiated  members  enrolled  on  the 
books;  but  the  Freemasons  boast  of  16,000,000  adepts,  in 
order  to  appear  more  powerful  and  to  attract  guileless  and 
ambitious  people  into  their  lodges.  This  large  number  may 
represent  the  Liberal  fools  and  dupes  who  follow  them  be- 
cause they  do  not  know  their  diabolic  plans ;  but  it  certainly 
exaggerates  enormously  the  direct  strength  of  the  lodges. 


THE  ANTICHRISTIAN  CONSPIRACY.  311 

Fourfifths  of  the  Freemasons  are  in  Protestant  lands 
were  faith  in  Christ  is  dying  out;  and  there  they 
constitute  mild  benevolent  societies,  with  a  sprinkling  of 
religion  sufficient  to  dull  the  religious  sense  of  their  in- 
different members. 

In  Catholic  countries  the  leaders  are  open  enemies  of 
Christianity;  either  cunning  Jews  or  rabid  infidels.  The 
highest  grades  are  nearly  all  in  the  hands  of  Jews.  The 
members  are,  or  invariable  become,  infidels.  On  entering 
the  lodges  many  protest  that  they  will  never  renounce 
their  faith;  but  after  a  few  years  the}7  find  that  "the  lodge 
is  a  good  enough  church"  for  them ;  and  so  they  complete 
their  abandonment  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  class  of  Liberals 
who  stick  to  their  religion  and  yet  follow  the  Freemasons 
are  simply  their  catspaws  in  the  -warfare  against  the 
Church  of  God.  Deluded  fools,  who  try  to  serve  two 
irreconcileable  masters,  Christ  and  Satan! 

V.    ANTICHRISTIAN  AIMS. 

Adopting  the  deceptive  name  and  emblems  of  the  ancient 
guilds  of  stonemasons,  those  noble  associations  of  Christian 
workmen,  to  which,  with  the  co-operation  of  kindred  bodies 
of  other  crafts,  we  owe  so  many  of  the  glories  of  the 
mediaeval  architecture,  the  Freemasonic  sectaries  conspired 
together  to  overthrow  the  cathedrals  that  the  Catholic 
masons,  truly  free,  had  built,  and  with  these  the  whole 
fabric  of  Christian  society. 

Leo  XIII  declares  that  the  ultimate  aim  of  the  Sect  of 
Satan  is  to  destroy  Christianity  altogether,  and  to  rear  up 
in  its  place  a  "naturalistic"  society,  entirely  independent 
of  Christ  and  His  Holy  Church. 

That  Freemasonry  aims  at  the  destruction  of  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ  appears  from  the  fact  that  it  claims  to  be 
the  religion  of  the  future.  It  has  concocted  a  ritual,  to 
cater  to  the  religious  instincts  of  its  members,  composed 
of  a  pompous  parody  of  Christian.  Jewish,  Pagan  and 
Mohammedan  ceremonies.  But  its  God  is  Satan  instead 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

Christian  education  is  the  great  obstacle  to  the  progress 
of  the  dark  sect,  and  hence  it  is  that  it  has  always  per- 

L 


312  THE  THREE  AGES. 

secuted  the  Jesuits,  the  great  Christian  educators,  with 
such  a  Satanical  hatred.  In  spite  of  the  millions  of  ad- 
herents they  claim,  they  took  no  rest  until  they  had  the 
22,000  Jesuits  dispersed  and  exiled!  At  the  present  day 
they  pursue  the  10,000  Jesuits  with  relentless  fury  and 
absurd  slanders.  Sixteen  hundred  Liberals,  rich  and 
powerful,  fear  one  simple  Jesuit,  vowed  to  poverty  and 
shut  up  in  his  convent  or  exiled  from  his  native  land! 
What  cowardice!  What  self-distrust!  What  a  mockery  of 
liberty  and  fair  play! 


CHAPTER   FORTYSECOND. 
FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

O  God,  the  heathens  have  come  into  Thy  inheritance,  they 
have  denied  Thy  holy  temple.  They  have  given  the  dead  bodies 
of  Thy  servants  to  be  meat  for  the  fowls  of  the  air ;  the  flesh  of 
Thy  saints  for  the  beasts  of  the  earth.  They  have  poured  out 
their  blood  as  water  round  about  Jerusalem,  and  there  was 
none  to  bury  them.  PSALMS  LXXVIII,  1-3. 

I.    A  FREEMASONIC  EXPERIMENT. 

French  revolutionists  committed  as  many  horrible 
crimes  as  the  Huns  and  the  Vandals.  One  cannot  read 
the  annals  of  their  butcheries  without  retaining  a  long  and 
painful  memory  of  murder  and  blood.  In  the  course  often 
years  four  parliaments  succeeded  each  other,  and  every 
time  gathered  together  fresh  and  still  more  frenzied  mur- 
derers from  that  impious  generation.  The  Constitutional 
assembly  of  1789  made  a  "free  constitution"  for  which 
the  legislative  assembly  of  '91  was  to  elaborate  laws  in 
detail;  but  it  overthrew  the  Church  and  the  nobility  of 
France.  The  National  Convention  of  '93  made  an  Anti- 
christian  constitution,  under  which  the  Directory  of  '95 
made  new  laws  without  being  able  to  enforce  them. 

Among  all  who  ever  terrorized  and  tyrannized  over 
any  country,  the  Conventional  of  France  were  the  most 
unscrupulous  and  tigerish. 

Far  from  deploring  such  barbarous  deeds,  the  Free- 
masons applauded  them,  and  to  this  day,  through  their 
organs  in  France  and  Belgium,  do  not  blush  to  claim  them 
as  their  own. 

II,    FIRST  PHASE,  1789,  CONSTITUTIONAL  LIBERTY. 

The  French  Revolution  commenced  with  a  generous 
movement  of  the  upper  classes  in  favor  of  the  people  at 
large.  To  remedy  financial  troubles,  Louis  XVI  convoked 


314  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  three  Estates:  the  clergy,  the  nobility  and  the  people. 
The  Third  Estate  demanded  above  all  the  abolition  of  the 
tithes  and  the  feudal  rights;  and  148  clergymen  seconded 
their  proposition.  In  the  solemn  assembly  of  the  fourth 
of  August,  the  noblemen  and  the  clergymen  renounced  all 
their  special  privileges,  and  the  equal  rights  of  all  the 
citizens  were  proclaimed.  The  fulness  of  "liberty"  in  the 
modern  sense  was  thus  secured.  But  the  Freemasons  were 
not  actuated  by  the  love  of  liberty,  but  by  a  satanical 
hatred  against  Christianity,  and  a  thirst  for  the  blood  of 
their  fellowmen.  The  Revolutionists  did  not  desire  liberty 
but  absolute  power.  They  wanted  to  overthrow  the  rights 
and  religion  of  others,  and  to  establish  their  own  personal 
despotism  and  impiety. 

III.    SECOND  PHASE,  1790,  ANTICHRISTIAN  REVOLUTION. 

Out  of  the  Freemasonic  lodges  came  the  odious  Jacobins, 
who  conspired  against  every  one  who  had  a  name,  a 
fortune,  talent  or  virtue.  By  fiery  discourses  they  drove 
the  Parisian  populace  into  a  more  than  Vandal  destructive- 
ness  and  a  more  than  cannibal  cruelty.  At  their  instiga- 
tion, the  mob  captured  the  prison  of  the  Bastille  and  the 
palace  of  Versailles,  and  dragged  the  authorities  to  prison. 
Their  emblem  was  the  red  cap  of  the  convicts,  and  their 
leaders  the  cruel  Robespierre  and  the  unscrupulous  Marat. 
The  Jacobins  were  bent  on  destroying  Christianity.  They 
confiscated  all  Church  property,  abolished  the  monastic 
orders,  and  declared  the  French  Church  a  national  insti- 
tution entirely  independent  of  the  Pope.  A  "civil  con- 
stitution of  the  clergy"  was  voted,  -which  made  all  the 
ministers  of  religion  subject  to  popular  election.  This 
schismatical  reorganization  all  the  priests  had  to  accept 
by  oath  under  pain  of  losing  their  positions.  Of  the  138 
Bishops  of  France  only  4,  of  the  250  clerical  members  of 
the  Assembly  only  70,  and  of  the  60,000  priests  of  France 
only  10,000,  could  be  induced  to  take  the  schismatic  oath. 
More  than  12,000  monasteries  and  convents  and  40,000 
churches  fell  under  the  hammer  of  the  sacrilegious 
robbers.  There  was  a  public  debt  of  two  billion  francs 
to  be  paid.  About  eleven  billion  francs  were  devoured 


FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  315 

by  the  Revolution;  that  is  to  say,  five  times  the  debt 
officially  incurred ;  and  there  was  still  left  an  immense 
deficit,  which  prepared  the  way  for  bankruptcy. 

Many  clergymen  and  nobles  were  thrown  into  prison, 
ostensibly  to  be  deported  in  bulk,  but  in  realty  to  be  kept 
for  the  day  of  vengeance.  The  king  was  twice  attacked 
in  his  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  and  then  confined  in  the 
prison  of  the  Temple.  All  the  princes,  nobles  and  gentle- 
folk who  could  escape  fled  from  the  land  of  anarchy.  The 
governments  of  Europe  made  a  coalition  to  restore  order, 
and  Champagne  was  invaded  by  the  allies.  Posters  put 
up  during  the  night  in  the  streets  of  Paris  excited  the 
people  to  frenzy,  and  they  broke  into  the  prisons  and 
murdered  8,000  innocent  citizens,  dancing  like  fiends  around 
their  palpitating  victims  and  devouring  their  very  entrails. 

IV.    THIRD  PHASE,  1793-'94,  REIGN  OF  TERROR. 
1.    Destruction  of  the  State. 

The  National  Convention  was  composed  of  sanguinary 
monsters  who  terrorized  the  people  in  a  frightful  way. 
Its  first  act  was  to  depose  the  king,  bring  accusations 
against  him,  and  condemn  him  to  death.  Louis  XVI  was 
executed  in  January,  1793,  and  his  queen  and  his  sister 
after  months  of  painful  detention.  His  son  was  starved  to 
death  in  prison,  and  his  daughter  escaped,  as  if  by  a 
miracle.  The  very  ashes  of  the  former  kings  buried  at 
St.  Denis  were  exhumed  and  scattered  to  the  winds. 

2.    Destruction  of  the  Church. 

The  Conventional  attacked  the  Catholic  Church,  which 
they  dreaded  ;  while  they  tolerated  the  few  and  insignificant 
sects  which  they  knew  to  be  powerless.  Every  sign  ot 
Christianity  was  suppressed.  The  calendar  was  changed. 
Decades  of  ten  days  were  substituted  for  weeks  of  seven 
days,  and  the  celebration  of  Sundays  and  other  holy  days 
was  strictly  forbidden.  Corpses  were  taken  from  the  graves 
and  used  as  manure.  Churches  without  number  were 
burned,  pulled  down,  or  turned  into  theatres,  factories, 
dwellings,  stores,  clubhouses  and  stables.  The  church  of 


316  THE  THREE  AGES. 

St.  Genevieve  was  converted  into  a  " Pantheon",  or  resting- 
place  of  great  men,  and  thither  were  borne  with  great 
solemnity  the  ashes  of  Voltaire  and  Marat.  The  Free- 
masons frightened  Gobal,  the  schismatical  archbishop  of 
Paris,  to  such  a  point  that  he  made  a  solemn  apostasy 
in  full  convention.  On  the  tenth  day  of  November,  1793, 
he,  with  thirteen  vicars,  made  the  impious  declaration 
that  they  had  duped  the  people,  and  taught  a  religion  in 
which  they  did  not  themselves  believe.  He  trampled  upon 
his  episcopal  insignia,  and  donned  a  Phrygian  bonnet 
instead  of  his  mitre.  The  soldiery  and  rabble,  wearing 
ecclesiastical  vestments,  and  wheeling  hand-barrows  of 
sacred  vessels,  entered  the  legislative  hall,  and  thence  went 
in  procession  around  the  city  burning  church  furniture  in 
the  streets.  Around  these  flaming  piles  the  frenzed  populace 
danced  riotously  and  blasphemed  the  God  of  their  fathers. 

That  same  day  a  notorious  woman  of  the  town  was 
carried  in  triumph  to  the  cathedral  of  Notre  Dame, 
enthroned  almost  naked  upon  the  high  altar,  and  publicly 
adored  in  the  midst  of  lewd  songs  and  impure  dances. 
That  frightful  impiety  was  repeated  in  many  places.  In 
one  city  five  hundred  prostitutes  appeared  elothed  in  sacred 
vestments.  Many  people  trampled  the  cross  under  their 
feet;  some  slole  the  consecrated  hosts  to  carry  them  in 
mock  processions,  or  to  fling  them  to  unclean  beasts. 

Nuns  were  starved  to  death,  or  beheaded  while  women 
of  ill-fame  were  an  object  of  public  liberality.  Priest  were 
dragged  from  city  to  city  amid  the  insults  of  the  mob, 
piled  together  in  infected  prisons,  or  sent  to  Cayenne, 
where  two-thirds  of  them  perished  within  eleven  months. 

3.    Destruction  of  Civilization. 

The  convention  seized  750  hospitals,  besides  all  the 
rest  of  the  patrimony  of  the  poor.  They  destroyed  the 
monuments  of  art  and  science  which  covered  the  land  and 
filled  the  libraries.  They  even  pulled  down  steeples,  as  if 
their  elevation  were  contrary  to  Republican  equality!  The 
Council  of  Paris,  considering  that  u books  have  done  to 
men  very  little  good  and  much  evil",  decreed  the  burning 
of  the  public  library. 


FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  317 

4.  Destruction  of  Life  and  Property. 

A  " committee  of  public  safety"  was  set  up,  which 
imprisoned  and  beheaded  all  ' 'suspected"  persons.  In  Paris 
the  guillotine  was  scarcely  ever  idle.  By  extraordinary 
diligence  one  machine  could  behead  from  60  to  80  persons 
in  a  day.  The  procession  of  the  headsman's  cart  was  seen 
daily.  About  44,000  revolutionary  tribunals  were  establ- 
ished, and  guillotines  were  set  up  all  over  the  face  of  France. 
A  flying  column  of  6000  soldiers  went  up  and  down  the 
country  to  purge  it  from  "suspects".  Half  a  million  people 
were  cast  into  jail.  At  Toulon  crowds  of  200  persons 
were  shot  at  a  time,  and  the  town  was  nearly  depopulated. 
Similar  massacres  were  perpetrated  in  the  villages  of 
Lyonnais.  Lyons  resisted;  but  she  was  captured,  her 
buildings  blown  up  and  the  citizens  shot  and  beheaded  by 
the  thousands.  The  blood  of  the  victims  so  tainted  the 
Rhone  that  the  laundresses  had  to  go  above  the  town  to 
find  clear  water  for  their  washing.  To  save  the  trouble 
of  carting  away  the  corpses,  the  guillotine  was  placed 
upon  a  bridge,  so  that  after  the  execution  the  bodies  fell 
into  the  stream,  where  they  served  as  food  for  the  fishes. 

Not  only  did  the  monsters  of  the  Convention  slaughter 
the  people ;  they  finished  by  devouring  one  another.  Danton 
was  beheaded  with  thirteen  of  his  followers.  Robespierre 
was  arrested  and,  though  he  shot  himself  in  the  jaw-  in 
order  to  escape  public  judgement,  he  was  brought  to  the 
Convention  hall  and  fell  with  twentyfour  other  human 
tigers  amid  the  execration  of  the  crowds. 

5.  Devastation  of  Whole  Provinces. 

La  Vendee,  followed  by  the  rest  of  Poitou,  Anjou  and 
Brittany,  arose  in  defence  of  God  and  the  king.  The 
Vendeans  and  Bretons  were  a  noble  and  gallant  race  and 
they  resisted  all  of  the  armies  of  the  pseudo-republic  until 
their  land  had  been  utterly  devastated.  Three  Republican 
armies  were  defeated.  There  were  200  captures  and 
recaptures  of  cities,  700  local  engagements  and  seventeen 
great  battles.  The  Convention  trembled  lest  the  people 
should  also  stand  up  elsewhere  to  assert  the  dignity  of 


318  THE  THREE  AGES. 

human  nature  and  demand  a  reckoning  for  the  barbarous 
crimes  committed  by  its  orders.  Besides  the  maddened 
soldiery  the  worst  criminals  were  let  loose  and  sent  to  La 
Vendee  to  commit  every  crime  under  the  name  of  Vendeans, 
and  thus  give  at  least  a  pretext  for  the  Freemasonic  brutal- 
ities. Dogs  were  trained  to  track  the  fugitives  into  the 
inmost  recesses  of  the  forests  and  the  caverns;  children 
were  crushed  under  the  horses'  feet,  or  thrown  with  their 
mothers  into  glowing  ovens.  At  Rennes  many  thousands 
were  thrust  into  boats  with  openings  in  the  bottom,  and 
thus  sunk  and  drowned  in  the  Loire.  A  tanner  of  Pont- 
de-Ce  actually  received  orders  from  most  of  the  members 
of  the  Military  Committee  for  trousers  made  of  human 
skin.  The  soldiers  were  sent  to  burn  the  grain  in  the 
granaries  and  the  animals  in  the  stables.  Twelve  infernal 
columns  went  up  and  down  the  country  to  destroy  every 
sign  of  life  and  agriculture,  and  they  made  a  desert  of  all 
Northwestern  France. 

V.  ATTEMPTS  AT  WORLD-WIDE  DESTRUCTION. 

The  Revolutionists  made  war  upon  the  neighboring 
countries,  where  the  Freemasons  welcomed  and  assisted 
them,  and  they  intended  to  repeat  everywhere  their  im- 
pious Vandalism.  They  were  very  imperious  and  exacting 
towards  the  Pope.  But  the  Lord  mocked  at  all  their  mad 
ambitions.  They  were  unable  to  preserve  peace  in  France 
itself,  notwithstanding  their  policy  of  butchery.  All  order 
disappeared  in  fortyfive  counties,  constituting  about  a  half 
of  France.  Napoleon  overthrew  the  incapable  Directory, 
subdued  the  licentious  demagogues,  and  made  them  a 
pedestal  for  his  imperial  throne.  The  people  welcomed 
him  as  a  deliverer,  and  he  drove  them  all  over  Europe  to 
establish  a  universal  empire  for  himself.  He  restored  the 
Catholic  religion,  as  a  political  measure,  and  his  efforts  to 
subject  it  to  himself  and  make  the  Supreme  Pontificate  one 
of  the  bulwarks  of  his  tyranny  were  utterly  frustrated. 

VI.  NATIONAL  APOSTACY  DROWNED  IN  BLOOD. 

France  was  the  first  nation  which  as  a  nation  formally 
abjured  the  very  name  of  Christ.  The  Voltairian  populace 
and  the  Freemasonic  government  overturned  the  altars, 


FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  319 

murdered  the  priests  and  bent  the  knee  before  an  obscene 
u Goddess  of  Reason".  They  gathered  in  a  focus  all  the 
impiety  and  blasphemy  of  the  past  centuries,  and  solemnly 
apostatized  from  Christ  and  His  Church,  which  they  mocked 
and  blasphemed  with  incredible  malignity.  But  God  aban- 
doned them  to  their  own  brutal  instincts.  They  devoured 
each  other  and  turned  the  country  into  a  wilderness  and 
the  cities  into  dens  of  wild  beasts  in  human  form.  Thirty 
bloodthirsty  tyrants  were  able  to  find  300,000  executioners 
to  murder  all  who  were  holy  and  noble  in  the  whole  of 
France  and  who  were  not  so  fortunate  as  to  succeed  in 
taking  refuge  in  some  happier  land.  In  ten  years  they 
inflicted  as  many  and  as  horrible  calamities  as  had  befallen 
the  whole  of  mankind  ever  since  the  Flood.  In  their  hands 
France  became  a  heap  of  ruins  and  an  immense  cemetery. 
This  is  a  horrible  example  of  the  punishment  that  threatens 
any  people  publicly  apostatizing  from  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 


CHAPTER   FORTYTHIRD. 
THE  CANCER  OF  CATHOLIC  COUNTRIES. 

It  was  given  to  him  [the  Second  Beast,  i.  e.,  Freemasonry] 
to  give  life  to  the  image  of  the  beast  [the  infidel  State,  which  is 
the  image  of  the  Pagan  State  represented  by  the  First  Beast], 
and  that  the  image  of  the  beast  should  speak ;  and  should  cause 
that  whosoever  will  not  adore  the  image  of  the  beast  should  be 
slain.  And  he  shall  make  all,  both  little  and  great,  rich  and 
poor,  freemen  and  bondmen,  to  have  a  character  on  their  right 
hand  or  on  their  foreheads ;  and  that  no  man  might  buy  nor 
sell  but  he  that  hath  the  character,  or  the  name  of  the  beast  or 
the  number  of  his  name.  APOCALYPSE  xm,  15-17. 

I.    TACTICS  OF  THE  ENEMY. 

Catholic  nations  have  for  nearly  two  centuries  been 
exposed  to  the  fire  of  three  deadly  enemies,  and  until 
recently  without  taking  any  systematic  measures  of  self- 
defence.  Those  enemies  are  Protestantism,  Judaism  and 
Freemasonry.  It  is  the  actual  policy  of  Protestant  England 
and  Germany  to  lower  the  Catholic  nations,  in  order  to 
seize  for  themselves  the  control  of  the  seas  and  of  Western 
Europe.  It  is  the  traditional  policy  of  the  leading  Jews 
to  attack  the  Catholic  Church,  because  she  is  the  universal 
Christian  society.  It  is  the  implacable  object  of  the  leading 
Freemasons  to  undermine  all  Catholic  institutions,  in  order 
to  root  out  Christianity  altogether.  Now  these  three 
enemies  have  combined  to  weaken  the  Catolic  nations  by 
secret  plots  and  open  wars :  Protestant  diplomacy,  Jewish 
gold  and  Freemasonic  treachery  have  worked  together  to 
demoralize,  revolutionize  and  plunder  the  Catholic  nations. 
But  the  greatest  danger  comes  from  the  band,  or  rather 
the  army,  of  organized  traitors  which  they  have  succeeded 
in  forming  in  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  nations,  and  whom 
they  furnish  with  every  possible  weapon.  Protestant 
diplomacy  and  Jewish  gold  are  at  the  disposition  of  the 
Latin  Freemasons  to  enable  them  to  corrupt  and  weaken 


THE  CANCER  OF  CATHOLIC  COUNTRIES.  321 

their  own  countries.  Hence  those  strange  attacks  of  the 
press  against  faith  and  institutions  in  lands  that  are 
entirely  Catholic;  hence  those  ruinous  revolutions  and 
wholesale  plunderings  in  nations  which  for  centuries  were 
the  most  peaceable  and  even  now  are  the  most  easy  to 
govern  on  earth,  as  their  endurance  of  the  Freemasonic 
tyranny  reveals  only  too  well.  To  crown  their  tactics 
they  attribute  the  apparent  decline  of  the  Latin  nations 
to  the  influence  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Every  form  of 
Protestant,  Jewish  and  Freemasonic  literature  proclaims 
to  the  world : 

"The  Catholic  lands  are  worn  out,  ruined,  corrupted, 
and  repudiate  the  old  Church  that  caused  their  downfall. 
See  the  fearful  corruption  cropping  out  in  the  leading  news- 
papers, the  frequent  revolutions  shaking  every  institution 
of  the  Latin  nations,  and  the  scandalous  robbery  perpe- 
trated by  their  officials." 

Their  own  works  they  thus  attribute  to  the  Catholics, 
and  those  very  Catholics  tamely  submit,  and  bow  before 
the  alleged  superiority  of  enemies  that  have  prevailed 
against  them  only  by  violence,  corruption,  mendacity  and 
treachery ;  and  they  will  remain  at  their  mercy  as  long  as 
they  do  not  organize  against  the  contemptible  Judases  in 
the 'pay  of  their  hereditary  enemies. 

II.    ATTACKS  ON  FAITH  AND  MORALS. 

In  Catholic  countries  there  are  anomalies  which  could 
not  be  explained  were  it  not  for  the  presence  of  a  strong 
secret  organization  bent  on  dechristianizing  them.  Chief 
among  these  anomalies  are  the  infidel  papers,  schools  and 
governments.  Every  day  the  leading  journals  are  filled 
with  the  bitterest  attacks  upon  the  faith  of  the  people, 
and  the  strongest  allurements  to  immorality,  all  of  which 
cannot  fail  to  produce  some  effect  and  to  make  some 
victims.  These  become  rabid  infidels  and  shameless  liber- 
tines, and  are  held  up  as  the  enlightened  portion  of  the 
land,  and  the  representatives  of  public  opinion;  which  of 
course  gives  plausibility  to  the  vociferous  libels  about  the 
apostasy  and  corruption  of  the  Catholic  nations. 

21 


322  THE  THREE  AGES. 

The  Freemasons  in  the  Latin  countries  are  a  small 
number  of  blatant  infidels  and  shameless  scoundrels ;  they 
are  not  one  in  a  thousand;  but  they  make  up  for  their 
lack  of  numbers  by  the  intensity  of  their  hatred  against 
Christianity,  the  audacity  of  their  slanders,  and  the  fierce- 
ness of  the  storms  which  the  try  to  excite.  As  for  the  good 
citizens  opposed  to  them,  they  are  quiet,  men  who  attend 
to  their  own  affairs  and  neither  clamor  nor  agitate.  Thus 
the  infidel  element,  however  insignificant  in  number  has 
the  false  appearance  of  representing  the  public  opinion, 
and  lays  claim  to  the  control  of  education  and  the  govern- 
ment. It  is  under  the  pretext  of  zeal  for  progress  and 
improvement  that  the  Freemasons  demand  the  education 
of  the  youth  in  their  own  way,  but  it  is  really  for  the 
purpose  of  infidel  propagandism  at  the  expense  of  the 
public.  There  was  a  striking  example  of  this  in  Belgium. 
Although  that  country  is  the  most  progressive  and  the 
most  Catholic  in  Europe,  the  Freemasons  demanded  the 
management  of  the  schools,  in  order  to  improve  the 
methods  of  teaching  and  to  lead  to  higher  progress.  In 
1879  they  had  control  of  the  government  by  a  majority 
of  one  vote.  A  rabid  Freemason  by  the  name  of  Vanhum- 
beeck  became  minister  of  public  instruction,  with  the 
avowed  object  of  making  the  public  schools  infidel.  He 
had  a  law  passed  by  -which  the  Church  was  deprived  of 
all  authority  in  the  schools,  which  were  entrusted  to 
Antichristian  masters.  Many  years  before  he  had  made 
at  Antwerp  a  famous  speech  in  which  he  had  vented  his 
diabolical  aims.  He  had  said  in  a  Freemasonic  council: 

"The  Church  is  a  corpse  which  obstructs  the  road  of  progress.  In 
the  last  century  the  revolution  pushed  that  corpse  halfway  into  the 
grave;  the  nineteenth  century  must  bury  it  forever." 

As  soon  as  the  people  found  out  what  he  wanted  by 
his  secularistic  school-law,  they  built  new  Catholic  schools 
in  every  village  of  the  land ;  and  in  the  following  election 
they  inflicted  upon  the  Freemasons  and  their  tools  the 
Liberals  such  an  overwhelming  defeat  that  they  are  never 
likely  to  recover  from  it. 

It  is  a  strange  fact  that  the  Freemasons  can  control 
the  governments  of  many  Catholic  nations,  insult  their 


THE  CANCER  OF  CATHOLIC  COUNTRIES.  323 

religion,  overthrow  their  institutions,  and  tyrannize  over 
them  generally,  just  as  much  as  the  Czar  of  Russia  tyrann- 
izes over  his  half-civilized  subjects.  The  Catholics  must  be 
a  patient  and  tolerant  kind  of  people,  to  allow  a  few 
of  enemies  not  only  to  govern  them  but  also  to  oppress 
them  and  to  attack  all  that  is  dear  to  them !  Would  such 
things  be  possible  unless  some  secret  funds  and  other 
assistance  were  supplied  from  outside  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  those  tyrannts  and  sustaining  them  in  power? 

III.    PERIODICAL  REVOLUTION. 

Periodical  revolutions  afflict  most  of  the  Latin  nations 
of  America;  they  are  the  work  of  contemptible  plotters, 
who  want  to  rule  or  ruin  their  country.  If  the  Freemasons 
do  not  constitute  the  government,  they  overthrow  it  by 
intrigue  and  violence,  and  they  persecute  their  rivals  and 
the  Catholic  religion  until  they  provoke  a  counter- 
revolution which  drives  them  out  of  power. 

In  Europe  about  every  tenth  year  since  the  overthrow 
of  Napoleon  there  has  been  a  fearful  explosion  of  the 
pent-up  fires.  So  1820,  '30,  '48,  '59— '60,  and  '68— '70 
are.  fatal  dates  in  the  annals  of  Catholic  Europe. 

In  1820,  only  five  years  after  the  monster  of  the  French 
Revolution  had  been  tamed,  revolts  broke  out  in  a  number 
of  the  capitals  of  southern  Europe.  The  Prussian  minister 
Yon  Haugwitz,  who  had  himself  been  a  Freemason  of  high 
degree,  made  the  following  declaration  at  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  convened  to  re-establish  security: 

"I  have  acquired  the  firmest  conviction  that  not  only  the  French 
Revolution,  but  the  king's  murder,  with  all  their  attendent  horrors,  were 
resolved  on  in  the  lodges;  and  that  the  way  was  prepared  for  them  by 
secret  oaths  and  confederations." 

In  1830  the  Freemasons  threw  Poland  into  revolt 
against  Russia,  which  served  only  to  aggravate  her  yoke. 
Wars  of  succession  raged  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  the 
secret  societies  gave  their  support  to  the  parties  which 
allowed  them  to  rob  and  persecute  the  religious  orders. 
In  France  they  banished  the  Catholic  king  Charles  X  and 
raised  up  the  Liberal  Louis  Philippe,  who  abandoned  the 


324  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Church  to  their  mercy.  In  Italy  they  attempted  to 
revolutionize  the  Papal  States,  but  were  thwarted  by  the 
energy  of  Gregory  XVI. 

The  universal  action  of  Freemasonry  was  visible  again 
in  1848.  In  1847  a  great  Freemasonic  convention  met  at 
Strasbourg,  to  make  the  final  arrangement  for  a  general 
revolution  in  1848.  As  a  result,  within  the  space  of  one 
month  all  the  capitals  of  Europe  were  in  arms.  Paris 
started  before  March,  Vienna  arose  on  the  tenth  of  that 
month,  Berlin  on  the  eighteenth,  Parma  on  the  twentieth ; 
and  before  the  end  of  the  month  these  cities  were  followed 
by  Rome,  Florence  and  Naples. 

IV.    PLUNDERING  GOVERNMENTS. 

When  the  Freemasons  long  remain  in  power  the  country 
is  sure  to  some  day  awake  to  the  fact  that  it  has  been 
robbed  on  a  gigantic  scale.  The  recent  scandals  in  con- 
nection with  the  Panama  Canal  Co.  at  Paris  and  the 
Italian  Bank  at  Rome  startled  all  Europe,  because  the 
highest  officials  of  France  and  of  Italy  were  implicated; 
and  these  very  men  were  also  the  highest  dignitaries  of 
the  Lodge.  The  war  between  Spain  and  America  furnishes 
another  striking  revelation  of  the  misgovernment  and  the 
misappropriations  of  Freemasonic  officials.  For  a  century 
the  Freemasons  of  Spain  have  despoiled  the  convents, 
besides  taxing  the  people  to  death.  They  were  supposed 
to  have  a  fleet  and  a  military  establishment  fully  equipped 
and  capable  of  meeting  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United 
States.  But  the  Spanish  ships,  when  the  test  came,  were 
found  to  have  no  proper  stores  or  armaments,  and  the 
soldiers  and  marines  lacked  the  proper  -weapons  and 
training,  and  so  the  prompt  and  overwhelming  defeat  which 
ensued  was  inevitable.  It  is  the  dark -lantern  brethren  who 
have  been  the  cause  of  Spain's  loss  of  her  colonial  empire, 
and  of  the  political  decline  of  that  war-like  nation. 

V.    BETRAYAL  TO  FOREIGN  POWERS. 

From  1859  to  1870  the  Freemasons  not  only  disturbed 
their  countries  by  ruinous  revolutions,  but  also  outdid 


THE  CANCER  OP  CATHOLIC  COUNTRIES.  325 

themselves  in  selling  them  to  foreign  powers.  It  was  only 
with  Freemasonic  aid  that  Bismarck  and  Cavour  were 
able  to  subject  the  rest  of  Germany  and  Italy  to  their 
respective  dynasties  of  Prussia  and  Piedmont.  Those 
robberies  were  represented  as  the  " national  union"  of  the 
Germans  and  the  Italians ;  but  that  union,  in  each  case, 
could  have  been  far  more  satisfactorily  and  justly  accom- 
plished by  a  free  confederation  of  states  than  by  a  violent 
subjugation  of  more  advanced  peoples  to  the  new  king- 
doms of  Prussia  and  Italy. 

The  old  Carbonaro  Napoleon  III  helped  to  humiliate 
Catholic  Austria,  and  prepared  the  defeat  of  Catholic 
France.  In  1859  he  drove  the  Austrians  from  Lombardy, 
and  aided  Cavour  to  revolutionize  the  middle  states  of 
Italy.  The  following  year  Garibaldi  invaded  Naples,  and 
others  the  Roman  States.  There  was  left  to  the  Pope  only 
half  a  million  of  people,  and  these  also  were  taken  away 
in  1870.  Thus  the  Supreme  Pontiff  was  placed  under  the 
power  of  an  aggressive  Freemasonic  government.  The 
officials  of  Italy  have  robbed  the  churches  and  monasteries, 
and  sold  the  spoils  to  the  Jews.  They  have  also  taxed 
the  people  to  the  amount  of  the  half  of  the  crops,  and 
there  has  consequently  been  such  misery  in  that  country, 
the  finest  in  the  world,  that  hundreds  of  thousands  have 
had  to  emigrate  to  escape  the  pangs  of  hunger. 

In  1863  Bismarck  involved  Austria  in  Prussia's  war 
against  Denmark,  and  in  '68  he  combined  with  Italy  to 
force  his  ancient  ally  to  give  up  the  North  German  Con- 
federation to  Prussia,  and  Venice,  her  last  Italian 
possession,  to  Sardinia,  In  1870  he  conquered  the  French 
at  Sedan  and  annexed  the  Rhine  provinces.  The  Prussians 
entered  Paris  and  Versailles,  where  they  elected  and 
crowned  William  II  Emperor  of  Germany. 

VI.    APATHY  OF  CATHOLIC  LAITY. 

The  main  cause,  the  sine  qua  non,  of  the  political 
decline  of  Catholic  countries  is  the  phenomenal  in- 
difference of  Catholic  laymen  in  face  of  the  most  active 
and  most  cunning  foe  who  has  been  enslaving  and  ruining 
them.  Firstly,  there  are  not  a  few  who  lead  unchristian 


326  THE  THREE  AGES. 

lives,  and  persecutions  are  not  only  needed  to  punish  them 
for  their  lukewarmness  but  may  even  stir  them  up  to  piety 
and  virtue.  Secondly,  notwithstanding  the  constant  warn- 
ing of  the  Popes  and  the  Bishops,  few  have  done  anything 
against  the  ever-threatening  enemy.  A  handful  of  Free- 
masons have  been  allowed  to  rob  and  to  imprison  the 
Holy  Father,  to  subjugate  and  despoil  France,  Italy, 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  all  the  Latin- American  nations,  and 
to  everywhere  impose  an  antichristian  education  upon 
Catholic  youth. 

The  Catholics  hardly  protest  against  such  persecutions, 
although  they  number  thousands  to  one.  If  the  Free- 
masons are  cunning,  the  Catholics  are  right.  If  the  Masons 
work  with  the  power  of  Satan  the  Catholics  have  that 
of  the  Almighty  behind  them.  The  more  the  faithful  suffer 
their  religion  to  be  insulted  and  persecuted,  the  longer 
they  will  be  at  the  mery  of  their  eternal  enemies.  As  soon 
as,  attentive  to  the  voice  of  the  Vicars  of  Christ,  they 
shall  organize  everywhere,  not  in  secret  but  in  open  socie- 
ties ;  as  soon  as  they  shall  begin  to  work  and  agitate  and 
vote  perseveringly  and  consistently  for  their  religious  and 
civil  rights,  as  soon  as  they  shall  gather  in  their  vast 
numbers  and  their  prodigious  strength  and  demand  respect 
for  their  institutions  and  a  share  in  the  administration  of 
the  governments  to  which  they  are  subjected:  then,  and 
only  then,  will  they  be  free  again;  and  then  the  world 
will  wonder  how  it  was  possible  to  keep  them  so  long 
under  the  heel  of  the  powers  of  darkness.  The  Freemasons 
of  Catholic  lands  are  nothing  but  oppressors  and  traitors 
and  the  sect  of  Satan.  The  Catholics  are  in  the  right, 
they  have  the  advantage  in  point  of  numbers,  and  they 
constitute  the  Church  of  Christ,  which  cannot  perish:  "The 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail." 

The  victories  of  the  Catholics  of  Germany  and  of 
Belgium  show  this  strikingly.  Bismarck,  who  had  triumphed 
over  the  continent  of  Europe,  had  proposed  to  found  an 
arch-Protestant  empire.  In  1 873  he  passed  the  May  Laws 
to  destroy  the  Catholic  Church  in  Germany,  but  the  Catho- 
lics, led  by  Mallinckrodt  and  Windhorst,  made  such  an 
unflinching  opposition  that,  after  ten  years  of  vain  per- 


THE  CANCER  OF  CATHOLIC  COUNTRIES.  327 

seditions,  he  had  to  give  up  his  plan  and  grant  liberty  of 
worship  to  the  Church  and  a  share  in  the  government  to 
the  Catholics,  who  now  hold  the  balance  of  power  in  the 
empire.  He  himself  has  been  succeeded  by  two  Catholic 
chancellors ! 

The  Catholics,  when  left  to  themselves  always  were 
in  the  van  of  progress  and  contentment.  The  bulk 
of  those  nations  today  are  the  equal,  if  not  the 
superiors,  to  any  other  mass  of  people  in  point  of  intellect 
and  morals,  and  domestic  happiness.  As  glorious  as  their 
past  has  been,  so  glorious  their  future  will  be.  Should 
they  remain  Under  the  yoke  of  Freemasonic  government, 
God  can  call  other  nations  and  make  of  the  stores  of 
heathendom  or  Protestantism  the  sons  of  Abraham.  Will 
not  the  sun  of  justice  some  day  shine  upon  the  yellow  and 
dark  races  as  it  shone  upon  the  Caucasians?  Where  will 
the  brethren  of  darkness  then  be.  Christ  reigneth  forever 
and  ever,  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun. 


CHAPTER  FORTYFOURTH. 
COMMUNISM  AND  ANARCHY. 

A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you  ;  that  you  love  one 
another;  as  I  have  loved  you,  that  you  also  love  one  another. 
By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  you  are  My  disciples  if  you 
have  love  one  for  another.  JOHN  xm,  34  —  35. 

I.    PLUTOCRACY  THE  OUTCOME  OF  LIBERALISM. 


Freemasons  promoted  revolution,  under  the  guise 
of  champions  of  liberty,  equality  and  fraternity,  but 
in  reality  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  upon  all  the  powers 
and  treasures  of  society.  When  once  they  acquired  them, 
they  became  the  most  haughty  tyrants  and  the  most 
heartless  masters,  oppressing  and  starving  the  masses 
which  had  been  their  tools  in  overthrowing  the  old  order 
of  things.  By  1830  the  people,  who  had  lost  the  hope  of 
Heaven,  commenced  to  lay  claim  to  at  least  their  share 
of  the  earth;  and  they  now  threaten  to  overthrow 
society  itself. 

In  his  Encyclical  011  Communism,  1878,  Leo  XIII 
points  out  the  great  cause  of  the  social  trouble,  as  follows  : 

"By  a  new  kind  of  impiety,  unknown  to  the  Pagans,  States  con- 
stitute themselves  independently  of  God  and  of  the  order  which  he 
established.  The  rewards  and  punishments  of  a  future  life  are  forgotten. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  men  of  the  lowest  order,  weary  of  the  poverty 
of  their  home  or  their  little  workshop,  should  yearn  to  seize  upon  the 
dwellings  and  possessions  of  the  rich;  that  there  remains  neither  peace 
nor  tranquillity  in  private  or  public  life,  and  that  society  is  brought  to 
the  brink  of  destruction." 

II.    THEORY  OF  SOCIALISM. 

Socialism  is  sometimes  defined  as  a  theory  of  society 
which  advocates  a  more  precise,  orderly  and  harmonious 
arrangement  of  the  social  relations  of  mankind  on  some 


COMMUNISM  AND  ANARCHY.  329 

basis  of  communism,  such  as  the  cooperation  of  labor, 
redistribution  of  propert3r,  or  collective  ownership  of  land 
and  instruments  of  production. 

But  the  term  is  usually  employed  in  a  more  special 
sense,  to  designate  the  system  of  those  ultra-revolutionists 
who  propose  to  abolish  religion,  the  family  and  private 
ownership,  putting  all  property,  all  authority  and  all 
industries  of  every  kind  iu  the  hands  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, which  will  assign  to  each  individual  his  work  and 
distribute  to  him  whatever  he  needs.  One  wing  of  these 
revolutionists  goes  to  a  still  greater  extreme,  and  proposes 
the  annihilation  of  all  government,  all  laws,  and  all 
institutions,  so  that  all  human  relations  and  association 
shall  be  purely  voluntary.  But  these  anarchists  cannot 
consistently  organize  for  the  furtherance  of  their  aims,  and 
as  a  matter  of  fact  they  are  always  found  fighting  in  the 
ranks  of  the  socialists,  and  so  are  usually  counted  under- 
that  head.  Every  form  of  Socialism,  including  Anarchism, 
ignores  the  natural  and  Divinely. ordained  constitution  of 
society,  and  the  several  rights,  privileges  and  duties  of  its 
different  elements,  and  asserts  universal  equality. 

This  fiction  of  the  equality  of  men  is  chiefly  derived 
from  the  theories  of  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau.  He  supposes 
that  all  men  are  equal  in  everything,  that  they  have  the 
right  to  maintain  that  equality  against  all  superiority  of 
every  kind,  and  that  a  majority  of  votes  creates  and 
extinguishes  all  rights.  This  sophist  proposed  to  establish 
"liberty,  equality  and  fraternity";  but  the  French  Revolution 
w^hich  he  had  helped  to  provoke  destroyed  all  liberty,  so 
far  as  possible  reduced  all  men  to  the  level  of  the  ragged 
rabble  (sans-culottes),  and  slaughtered  its  victims  by  the 
million. 

The  founders  of  the  American  republic  asserted  the 
political  equality  of  all  men,  but  at  the  same  time  they 
maintained  the  inequality  of  powers  and  rights  acquired. 
John  Adams  says : 

"That  all  men  are  born  to  equal  rights  is  true.  Every  being  has  a 
right  to  its  own.  But  to  teach  that  all  men  are  born  to  equal  powers 
and  faculties,  to  equal  influence  in  society,  to  equal  property  and 
advantages  through  life,  is  as  gross  a  fraud,  as  glaring  an  imposition 
on  the  credulity  of  the  people,  as  was  ever  practiced." 


330  THE  THREE  AGES. 

In  his  Encyclical  on  the  labor  question  Leo  XIII 
shows  that  compulsory  communism  is  unnatural,  unjust, 
ruinous  and  tyrannical. 

It  is  not  natural  for  people  to  sacrifice  what  they  have 
produced  or  improved  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow.  They 
hold  it  as  dear  as  life,  and  would  defend  their  possessions 
at  the  cost  of  their  blood.  It  is  not  just  to  deprive  a  man 
of  the  fruit  of  his  labor.  The  cultivation  of  the  soil  alone 
makes  it  valuable,  consequently  the  increase  of  value 
belongs  to  the  man  who  first  created  this  value  or  to  his 
heirs ;  he  owns  the  land  that  he  made  productive. 

To  have  all  the  business  of  the  whole  country  controlled 
and  managed  by  the  government  would  either  cause  un- 
exampled disorder  or  necessitate  unprecedented  tyranny. 
Either  there  would  never  be  an  end  of  the  quarrels  about 
the  distribution  of  work  and  its  proceeds ;  or  there  would 
be  an  unbearable  tyranny,  in  which  the  commune  would 
prescribe  hours  of  -work  and  rest,  the  kind  of  food  and 
recreation,  and  so  on.  All  men  would  become  the  veriest 
slaves ;  they  would  simply  be  parts  of  a  vast  machine, 
with  the  motions  of  which  they  would  have  to  move,  just 
as  a  convict  must  keep  step  in  a  treadmill. 

III.    SOME  SOCIALISTIC  EXPERIMENTS. 

In  the  twelfth  century  of  our  era,  a  communistic  experi- 
ment was  made  in  China  by  Wang  Cang  Tse.  The  reformer 
thus  expressed  his  plan: 

"In  order  to  prevent  the  oppression  of  man  by  man  the  State  should 
take  possession  of  all  the  resources  of  the  Empire  and  become  sole  master 
or  employer.  The  State  should  take  the  entire  management  of  commerce, 
industry  and  agriculture  into  its  own  hands,  with  a  view  to  succoring 
the  working  classes  and  preventing  their  being  ground  to  the  dust.  The 
only  people  who  can  suffer  are  usurers  and  monopolists.  What  great 
harm  wonld  there  be  in  putting  an  end  at  last  to  the  exaction  of  those 
enemies  of  the  people?" 

In  accordance  with  these  views,  tribunals  were  es- 
tablished throughout  the  empire  which  fixed  the  price  of 
provisions,  imposed  taxes  on  the  rich  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor  or  unemployed  laborers,  assigned  to  each  farmer  the 
land  to  be  worked  and  the  kind  of  seed  to  be  sown,  and 
gave  seed  to  be  returned  after  harvest.  Soon  the  people 


COMMUNISM  AND  ANARCHY.  331 

of  China  were  plunged  into  an  abyss  of  misery ;  and  after 
a  few  years  the  system  became  unbearable  and  the  com- 
munists were  driven  out  of  the  country. 

The  Manicheans  (third  century),  the  Albigenses  (thir- 
teenth) and  the  Anabaptists  (sixteenth)  advocated  a  general 
communism,  and  wherever  they  prevailed  they  overthrew 
society,  property  and  the  family.  They  were  fanatical 
revolutionists,  respecting  no  powers  and  110  rights  and  no 
morals,  who  laid  the  country  waste  and  could  not  be  made 
to  respect  others  except  by  force  of  arms. 

In  France  the  Saint-Simonians,  in  1830,  and  Fourrier, 
in  1832,  made  communistic  communities,  which  failed 
financially.  In  1883  there  were  in  the  United  States  eight 
communistic  societies,  divided  into  seventy-two  separate 
communities,  with  about  five  thousand  members,  including 
children.  These  are  little  societies,  even  as  compared  with 
the  Catholic  religious  orders,  containing  many  thousands 
of  persons  living  in  a  happy  common  life. 

The  modern  Communists  do  not  recommend  community 
of  goods  to  those  who  are  willing  to  adopt  it,  but  demand 
its  enforcement  by  legal  means,  or,  if  that  is  impossible, 
by  revolutions ;  and  they  threaten  the  world  with  un- 
heard of  calamities. 

Lasalle,  a  Jew  of  high  intellect  and  education,  was 
'  'revolutionary  in  principle",  that  is,  he  aimed  at  the  over- 
throw of  he  present  order  of  things  at  any  and  all  costs. 
He  was  twice  imprisoned  for  his  treasonable  agitations. 
He  said  to  the  people: 

"The  first  French  Revolution  was  a  revolt  of  the  third  estate  against 
the  crown  aud  the  privileged  classes.  The  third  estate,  the  bourgeoisie, 
converted  itself  into  a  privileged  class:  plutocracy  took  the  place  of 
aristocracy.  The  Revolution  of  1848  was  the  beginning  of  the  revolt  of 
the  fourth  estate,  the  working  classes,  against  the  privileges  of  the  third. 
What  is  the  State?  You,  the  working  men,  are  the  State!  You  are 
nintysix  per  cent  of  the  population.  All  political  power  ought  to  be  of 
you,  and  through  you  and  for  you." 

Karl  Marx,  a  still  more  famous  socialist,  boldly 
acknowledged  that  it  was  the  aim  of  the  German  socialists 
to  "excite  hatred  and  contempt  for  all  existing  institutions. 
We  wage  war  against  all  prevailing  ideas  about  religion, 


332  THE  THREE  AGES. 

State,  country,  and  patriotism.  The  idea  of  God  is  the 
keystone  of  a  perverted  civilization,  and  it  is  needful  to 
sweep  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth." 

In  1864  Lasalle  founded  in  London  the  " International 
Workingmen's  Association",  which  soon  became  powerful 
and  threatening.  But  the  Franco-Prussian  war  divided  the 
French  and  German  laborers,  and  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Commune  at  Paris  frightened  the  English  members,  who 
were  more  conservative.  It  was  in  1870,  when  Paris  was 
still  at  the  mercy  of  the  Prussians,  that  the  Communards  . 
seized  the  power  and  delivered  themselves  up  to  outrage, 
pillage  and  carnage. 

The  Terror  of  1793  raged  again  in  the  French  capital. 
Churches  were  pillaged  and  hostages  taken.  When  the  army 
conquered  the  city,  the  revolutionists  burned  the  principal 
monuments  and  shot  the  hostages. 

The  Nihilists  are  the  Russian  Communists.  Nihilism 
or  Annihilationism  is  wild,  terrible  and  desperate  in  its 
methods.  It  has  women  as  well  as  men  among  its  ex- 
ponents and  agents.  Bakunine  was  one  of  its  foremost 
prophets  and  leaders.  In  1857  he  was  condemned  to  per- 
petual banishment  in  Siberia.  After  twelve  years  of  suffer- 
ing he  escaped  with  no  other  plan  than  that  of  destruction. 
He  says : 

"We  declare  that  the  forms  in  which  our  activity  ought  to  express 
itself  may  be  extremely  varied :  poison,  poniard,  knout,  the  Revolution 
sanctifies  all  without  distinction.  Pan-destruction  is  a  series  of  assas- 
sination, bold  or  even  mad  enterprises,  horrifying  the  powerful  and 
•dazzling  the  people,  till  they  believe  in  the  triumph  of  revolution." 

Although  the  Communists  have  never  as  yet  been  able 
to  carry  out  their  plans,  except  for  a  few  weeks  at  a  time, 
they  have  alread}^  startled  the  world  by  the  horror  of 
their  deeds.  One  need  not  be  a  prophet  to  say  that  some 
day  they  will  pile  up  more  ruins  than  the  Hun  and  the 
Norman,  the  Mohammedan  and  the  Revolutionist  ever  did. 
In  a  few  weeks  they  destroyed  the  finest  monuments  of 
Paris,  and  reduced  that  most  civilized  city  into  a  state 
barbarism  and  that  w^as  only  a  band  of  Parisian  fanatics. 
The  people  as  yet  have  never  been  atheistic  not  even  in  the 
worst  phases  of  Pagan  times ;  but  if  they  ever  be  robbed 


COMMUNISM  AND  ANARCHY.  333; 

of  all  faith,  woe  to  society!  With  the  terrible  engines  of 
destrution,  they  will  outdo  the  monsters  of  the  French, 
revolution,  and  level  cities  in  a  day. 

IV.    THE  ONLY  SAFEGUARD. 

In  his  Encyclical  on  the  labor  question,  1891,  Leo  XIII 
points  out  these  threatening  evils,  saying:  "The  momentous- 
seriousness  of  the  present  state  of  things  just  now  fills- 
every  mind  with  painful  apprehension.  All  agree  that  some 
remedy  must  be  found,  and  quickly  found. '?  Then  the  Pope 
points  to  the  means  offered  by  the  old  Church,  who  settled 
the  labor  question  in  the  Roman  and  the  barbarian  worlds, 
and  she  can  settle  it  in  ours.  For  she  alone  abolished  slavery 
that  crying  shame  of  Paganism  ;  there  being  more  tha.n  four 
hundred  synodical  and  Papal  decrees  in  behalf  of  the 
slaves.  If  she  suppressed  slavery,  serfdom  and  barbarian 
anarchy,  she  can  suppress  industrial  slavery,  pauperism 
and  the  consequent  revolt  of  the  masses. 

In  fact,  the  social  and  economic  evils  of  the  present 
day  have  arisen  precisely  from  the  disruption  of  that 
natural  and  Christian  order  of  society,  evolved  under  the 
fostering  care  of  Holy  Church  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
Protestantism  and  Liberalism  have  impoverished  the 
masses,  and  created  the  plutocracy  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  proletariat  on  the  other.  Indifferent  though  they  are 
to  the  miseries  and  degradation  they  have  produced,  they 
have  generated  in  their  own  bosom  the  twin  monsters  of 
Socialism  and  Anarchism,  which  now  threaten  to  avenge 
the  outraged  laws  of  social  order  by  a  fearful  retribution. 
From  the  principles  of  civil  affairs,  equality,  necessity 
and  universal  rule  of  the  Pope  the  Socialistic  notion  of 
an  omnipotent,  politico-economical  State,  with  absolute 
authority  and  universal  ownership,  is  a  logical  conclusion 
that  cannot  be  escaped,  and  if  it  could  be  established  it 
would  still  more  inevitably  lead  on  to  universal  anarchy. 

To  meet  these  dangers  the  great  Catholic  Social  Reform 
movement  has  arisen  in  Belgium,  France,  Italy,  Switzer- 
land and  Germany,  and  is  rapidly  spreading  to  other 
lands.  The  Catholic  Social  reformers  agree  with  the 
Socialists  and  Anarchists  that  the  existing  system  is  unjust 


334  THE  THREE  AGES. 

and  unnatural,  and  that  there  is  pressing  need  for  the 
freeing  of  the  people  from  the  clutches  of  the  money- 
power.  But  they  steadfastly  maintain  that  this  end  is  to 
be  attained  not  by  creating  an  all-absorbing  State  des- 
potism, as  the  Socialists  propose,  or  by  the  complete 
obliteration  of  all  authority  of  every  kind,  as  the  Anarchists 
dream,  but  by  the  restoration  of  the  true  and  normal 
order  of  society  under  the  aegis  of  religion:  The  full 
recognition  of  every  form  of  authority  spiritual,  intellectual, 
esthetic,  social  and  economic,  the  restoration  of  the  family 
and  the  economic  group  to  their  original  dignity  and 
autonomy,  and  the  perfect  enforcement  and  protection  of 
the  several  rights,  privileges,  duties  and  responsibilities 
peculiar  to  each  state,  condition,  function,  degree  and 
organic  element  in  the  body-politic.  The  Catholic  Church 
demands  the  solution  of  all  social  and  economic  problems 
by  the  intelligent  application  of  the  the  principles  of 
distributive  and  commutative  justice  and  of  the  laws  of 
Christian  charity  to  the  special  conditions  of  the  time  and 
place.  The  aim  of  this  great  movement  is  in  the  words  of 
the  apostle  of  the  gentiles:  "in  the  fulness  of  time  to 
reestablish  all  things  in  Christ".  (Ephes.,  10).  Its  watch- 
words are:  "Back  to  Christ!"  "The  reconstitution  of 
society  in  the  light  of  the  Eternal  Gospel!"  "Jesus  Christ 
must  conquer,  reign  and  rule,  throughout  all  the  world 
and  in  every  department  of  life  thought  and  life!" 


CHAPTER  FORTYFIFTH. 
RALLY  AROUND  THE  PAPACY. 

The  Stone  -which  the  builders  rejected  the  same  is  become  the 
head  of  the  corner.  Whosoever  shall  fall  upon  that  Stone  shall 
be  bruised,  and  upon  whomsoever  it  shall  fall,  it  will  grind  him 
to  powder.  LUKE  xx,  17,  18. 

I.    EFFECT  OF  INFIDEL  PERSECUTIONS. 

"TTEE  Protestant  spirit  of  revolt  penetrated  even  into 
Catholic  lands.  The  governments  endeavored  to 
estrange  the  people  from  their  spiritual  father,  and  dis- 
couraged the  frequent  communication  of  the  Bishops  with 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  Catholic  countries  had  become 
indifferent  towards  the  Vicars  of  Christ;  but  the  fearful 
persecutions  carried  on  by  the  infidels  renewed  their  interest 
and  their  attachment.  When  the  Freemasons  not  only 
created  a  radical  schism  in  the  Church  of  France,  but  also 
attempted  the  overthrow  of  the  Papacy,  killing,  chaining, 
robbing  and  imprisoning  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  the  people 
returned  with  enthusiasm  to  the  side  of  the  Vicars  of 
Christ,  and  the  Bishops,  convened  in  the  Vatican  Council, 
proclaimed  them  infallible  in  matters  of  faith  and  morals. 

II.  PIUS  VI  KILLED  BUT  REPLACED. 

In  France  the  Revolution  took  all  the  Church  property, 
made  a  schism  from  Rome,  and  persecuted  the  Catholics 
with  a  Satanical  hatred.  Pius  VI  (1775— '99)  protested 
in  vain.  When  Napoleon's  victories  opened  Italy  to  the 
French  armies,  the  Pope  was  twice  attacked  and  subjected 
to  a  heavy  ransom.  A  third  time  his  capital  was  taken 
and  a  republic  proclaimed,  on  February  15,  1798.  Five 
days  later  the  octogenarian  Pontiff  was  cast  into  an  old 
carriage  and  taken  out  of  Rome  on  a  dark  and  stormy 
night  without  notification  of  the  place  of  his  exile.  For 


336  THE  THREE  AGES. 

more  than  a  year  he  was  watched  by  guards  day  and 
night,  and  driven  from  one  city  to  another.  On  March 
the  29th,  during  severe  weather,  he  was  ordered  across 
the  Alps,  and  for  four  months  taken  from  one  French 
province  to  another,  staying  in  hamlets  and  villages  and 
stopping  at  the  most  wretched  inns.  Finally,  as  the  Free- 
masons intended,  he  died  from  fatigue  and  exhaustion  at 
Valence,  in  1799.  It  was  by  permission  of  Providence 
that  the  Holy  Pontiff  was  brought  to  the  land  of  anarchy 
and  persecution,  to  pray  for  the  frenzied  but  misguided 
people. 

The  Freemasons  cried  with  one  voice:  "The  Pope  is 
dead!  No  other  Pope  can  be  elected.  The  Church  without 
a  head  cannot  live!  Our  reign  is  establisbed  forever !" 
Indeed,  their  armies  occupied  Italy  and  the  Cardinals  were 
all  in  exile  or  in  prison.  But  Divine  Providence  watched 
over  the  bark  of  Peter,  and  gave  a  temporary  victory  to 
the  coalition  of  the  powers  of  Europe,  which  drove  the 
French  out  of  Italy.  All  of  the  governments  of  Europe, 
whether  Catholic,  Protestant  or  Schismatic,  wished  for 
another  Pope,  to  oppose  the  ravages  of  infidelity.  Thirty- 
five  Cardinals,  hastening  from  their  places  of  exile,  assembled 
at  Venice  and  chose  as  Pope  the  broadminded  and  charit- 
able Cardinal  Chiarimonti,  who  took  the  name  of  Pius  VII. 

III.    PIUS  VII   ENSLAVED  BUT  LIBERATED. 

In  1799  Napoleon  Bonaparte  made  himself  the  master 
of  France,  with  the  title  of  First  Consul.  He  restored  the 
public  offices  of  religion  as  a  means  of  facilitating  the  task 
of  government,  but  he  exacted  many  sacrifices  from  the 
Church  and  revived  the  old  "Gallican  claims".  He  became 
Emperor  in  1804,  and  summoned  the  Pope  to  Paris,  to 
solemnly  crown  him.  Pius  VII  (1800—1823)  went  thither, 
notwithstanding  the  displeasure  of  all  the  other  govern- 
ments of  Europe.  Napoleon  retained  him  for  a  whole 
winter  in  Paris,  in  the  hope  and  for  the  purpose  of  inducing 
him  to  fix  the  Papal  residence  at  the  French  capital,  so 
that  he  could  use  the  Popes  as  instruments  for  the  control 
of  the  Catholic  world.  But  Pius  returned  to  his  post  of 


RALLY  AROUND  THE  PAPACY.  337 

duty  at  Rome.  Several  demands  were  made  upon  him  by 
Napoleon  which  he  was  obliged  to  refuse.  In  1808  there- 
fore, the  Papal  States  were  invaded  by  the  imperial  forces, 
and  the  following  year  Rome  was  declared  a  part  of  the 
French  Empire.  Napoleon  was  then  at  the  zenith  of  his 
power.  He  had  defied  all  the  coalitions  of  Europe.  He 
had  destroyed  thrones  and  built  up  kingdoms.  Of  worldly 
weapons  the  Pope  had  none,  but  he  had  the  Divine  power 
to  bind  and  to  loose.  He  issued  a  Bull  of  Excom- 
munication against  the  authors,  abettors  and  advisers  of 
the  robbery.  All  Europe  applauded  the  courage  of  the  old 
man;  while  Napoleon  sneeringly  asked:  "Does  the  Pope 
think  that  his  sentence  will  cause  the  arms  to  fall  from 
my  soldiers'  hands?"  During  the  night  of  the  fourth  of 
Jnly  a  French  general  penetrated  into  the  apartments  of 
the  Pope,  demanding  his  abdication  of  the  sovereignty 
of  Rome  under  threats  of  imprisonment.  The  heroic 
Pontiff  answered:  "Non  possumus :  We  cannot,  we  will 
not,  we  must  not  cede  what  is  not  ours.  The  Emperor 
may  cut  us  to  pieces,  but  he  will  never  get  our  ab- 
dication." 

Pius  VII  was  taken  from  city  to  city  and  kept  in 
prison  at  Savona  for  three  years,  without  pen  and  ink, 
without  book  or  friend.  Finally  he  was  brought  in  an 
almost  dying  condition  to  Fontainebleau,  where  he  was 
obsessed  by  courtier-Cardinals  and  by  the  Emperor  him- 
self with  solicitations  to  give  up  part  of  his  power.  Pope 
Pius  made  as  many  concessions  to  the  imperial  govern- 
ment as  his  conscience  would  allow,  but  threats  and 
promises  and  hardships  were  alike  unavailing  to  induce 
him  to  go  one  step  further. 

Meanwhile  the  arms  had  literally  fallen  from  the  hands 
of  Napoleon's  soldiers,  benumbed  and  frozen  in  the  wilds 
of  Russia.  The  armies  of  Europe  were  invading  France, 
and  Napoleon,  having  retired  to  Fontainebleau,  was  forced 
to  sign  his  resignation  in  the  same  room  where  two  months 
previous  he  had  wrung  the  extremest  concessions  from 
the  Pope.  The  fallen  Caesar  went  to  die  on  the  rock  of 
St.  Helena,  while  the  triumphant  Pontiff  returned  to  the 
Eternal  City  amid  the  applause  of  the  whole  world. 

22 


338  THE  THREE  AGES. 

IV.    PIUS  IX  DESPOILED  BUT  EXALTED. 

The  Freemasons  proposed  the  unification  of  Italy,  in 
order  to  arrive  at  the  suppression  of  the  temporal  power 
of  the  Popes,  which  they  vainly  imagined  would  soon 
enable  them  to  annihilate  their  spiritual  power.  They 
multiplied  under  the  name  of  Carbonari  and  played  upon 
the  patriotic  feelings  of  the  Italians  to  excite  them  against 
their  local  rulers  and  against  the  princes  of  Austria.  But 
they  were  kept  in  check  by  the  energy  of  Gregory  XVI  (1831) 
and  the  power  of  the  Austrian  Empire.  His  successor 
Pius  IX  (1846 — '78),  young  and  generous,  favored  an 
Italian  federation,  reorganized  the  government  of  the  Papal 
States  on  a  popular  basis,  and  granted  an  amnesty  to  all 
political  prisoners.  But  the  Freemasons  demanded  a  war 
against  Austria,  and  upon  the  refusal  of  Pius  IX  they 
declared  him  a  traitor  to  his  country.  Mazzini  stirred 
up  a  revolution  in  Rome,  with  the  aid  of  the  released 
criminals  and  imported  malcontents,  and  established  an 
infidel  republic,  1848.  The  Pope  fled  to  Gaeta,  and  was 
soon  restored  by  France  and  Austria,  which  left  a  garrison 
to  defend  him. 

The  wily  Cavour  became  prime  minister  of  the  Pied- 
montese  prince  Victor  Emanuel,  King  of  Sardinia,  he  pro- 
posed to  overthrow  the  other  Italian  governments  for  the 
benefit  of  the  House  of  Savoy.  In  1859  and  1860  Free- 
masonic  plots  and  a  favorable  combination  of  political 
events  allowed  him  to  seize  the  north  and  south  of  Italy 
and  to  threaten  the  Papal  States.  A  band  of  Catholic 
young  men  from  all  countries  hastened  to  the  defence  of 
the  Holy  Father,  but  these  "Papal  Zouaves"  were  crushed 
at  Castelfidardo  by  an  army  ten  times  larger  than  their 
own.  Four-fifths  of  the  Papal  States  were  incorporated 
at  that  time  in  what  has  since  called  itself  the  Kingdom 
of  Italy.  The  Catholic  peoples  of  the  whole  world  offered 
Peter's  Pence  for  the  support  of  the  general  government 
of  the  Church,  thus  despoiled  of  its  revenues,  and  12,000 
fresh  zouaves  came  from  every  corner  of  the  world  to 
guard  the  remnant  of  the  sacred  territory.  In  1870,  how- 
ever, that  was  also  taken,  and  Pius  IX  found  himself 


RALLY  AROUND  THE  AAPACY.  339 

under  the  power  of  the  treacherous  usurper  and  his  Free- 
masonic  cabinet.  The  monasteries  and  convents  were 
robbed  on  a  tremendous  scale,  and  the  works  of  art,  sold 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Freemasons,  were  bought  up  by 
Jewish  speculators. 

The  captive  Pope  was  one  of  the  greatest  who  ever 
reigned.  No  Roman  Pontiff  has  ever  ruled  longer,  or  con- 
vened more  Bishops  around  his  person,  or  reestablished 
more  Hierarchies,  or  canonized  more  saints,  or  condemned 
more  false  doctrines.  In  1864  he  fearlessly  denounced  the 
great  heresies  and  errors  of  our  times,  enumerating  as 
many  as  eighty  in  his  famous  Encyclical  and  Syllabus. 
In  1867,  on  the  occasion  of  the  centenary  of  St.  Peter, 
five  hundred  Bishops  surrounded  the  throne  of  his  successor, 
and  the  holding  of  an  Ecumenical  Council  was  decided  on. 

On  the  feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  1869, 
Pius  IX  solemnly  opened  the  nineteenth  Ecumenical  Council 
at  the  Vatican,  with  719  Bishops,  Abbots  and  Generals 
of  religious  orders  present,  which  number  later  arose  to 
769.  Two  dogmatic  constitutions  were  passed:  The  first 
affirms  the  existence  of  a  supernatural  order,  and  the 
second  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope  in  official  definitions  on 
questions  of  faith  and  morals. 

The  first  was  a  condemnation  of  the  modern  infidels 
who  wish  to  reestablish  Naturalism  or  Paganism.  The 
second  was  the  answer  to  the  modern  Liberals,  who  wish 
to  curtail  the  power  of  the  Church  in  order  to  extend  their 
own.  That  prerogative  of  infallibility  caused  alarm  to  the 
governments,  but  it  had  been  recognized  by  the  Bishops 
and  by  the  faithful  in  general  in  all  ages.  Only  one-tenth 
of  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  wanted  to  postpone  the 
definition  of  this  article  of  faith  to  a  time  more  opportune, 
for  fear,  they  said,  that  it  might  be  an  occasion  of  scandal 
and  schism.  Cardinal  Manning  says:  "Setting  aside  that 
one  question  of  opportuneness,  there  was  not  a  difference 
of  any  gravity.  Never  was  there  a  greater  unanimity  than 
in  the  Council." 

All  the  Bishops  accepted  the  decision  with  ready  loyalty. 
There  were  forty  German  priests,  with  here  and  there  one 
in  other  lands,  who  fell  away  on  this  occasion,  and  organ- 


340  THE  THREE  AGES. 

ized  the  sect  of  the  so-called  "Old-Catholics",  but  even  the 
learning  of  Doellinger  and  the  eloquence  of  Hyacinthe 
could  not  avail  to  keep  it  up. 

The  greatest  tribute  paid  to  the  proclamation  of  the 
dogma  of  the  infallible  teaching  office  of  the  Roman  Pon- 
tiffs was  the  rage  of  the  Freemasons  and  the  unavailing 
persecution  they  inaugurated  through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  powers  of  the  world.  It  was  the  spiteful  gnashing 
of  Satan's  teeth  against  the  glorification  of  the  Vicar  of 
Christ.  The  Freemasonic  governments  protested  against 
what  they  ignorantly  or  maliciously  called  a  "new 
privilege"  of  the  Popes.  The  infidels  of  France  expelled 
the  religious,  the  Protestants  of  Germany,  inaugurated 
the  Kulturkampf,  and  the  Freemasons  of  Italy  seized  the 
capital  of  Christendom,  and  plundered  its  treasures. 

When  Pius  IX  died  the  Freemasons  were  still  raging 
and  foaming  against  the  Pope,  that  "idol  in  the  Vatican", 
that  „ eternal  enemy  of  all  improvements",  as  they  said; 
and  once  more  they  determined  to  silence  his  voice,  to 
annihilate  his  influence,  and  exterminate  the  Catholic 
Church. 

But  God  had  prepared  another  Leo  to  confound  the 
modern  Huns,  who  do  not  advance  with  material  weapons 
in  broad  daylight,  but  who  hide  under  the  cover  of  a 
science  falsely  so  called,  and  a  whole  series  of  kindred 
impostures.  This  great  champion  of  God  and  civilization 
was  no  other  than  Leo  the  Thirteenth,  which  future 
generations  will  surname  the  Wise. 

V.     LEO    XIII,    A   PRISONER,    BUT   HEARD    THROUGHOUT 

THE  WORLD. 

Endowed  with  a  lofty  genius,  trained  by  assiduous 
study,  and  matured  by  extensive  observation,  Leo  XIII 
(1878)  entered  the  field  of  science  and  diplomacy  against 
the  enemies  of  Christ,  and  gained  their  respect  while 
frustrating  their  aims.  By  numerous  Encyclicals  he  cleared 
away  the  prejudices  against  the  Church,  and  pointed  out 
the  way  to  true  progress  and  the  dangers  that  threatened 
it;  and  by  skilful  negotiations  he  gained  the  confidence  of 
even  the  most  hostile  governments. 


RALLY  AROUND  THE  PAPACY.  341 

It  was  repeated  on  all  sides  that  the  Church  is  the 
enemy  of  science,  civilization  and  liberty.  Pope  Leo  issued 
luminous  documents  to  throw  light  on  the  most  important 
questions  of  the  times,  and  to  expose  the  brazen  lies,  the 
false  theories  and  the  deceptive  aims  of  Freemason^.  He 
proved  to  honest  minds  that  the  Church  is  the  greatest 
benefactor  of  the  race,  and  ever  marches  in  the  van  of 
progress.  He  showed  her  as  the  queen  of  science,  the 
mother  of  civilization  and  the  nurse  of  liberty.  No  Pope 
has  ever  shed  so  much  light  on  the  burning  questions  of 
the  day;  none  has  ever  put  within  the  reach  of  all  the 
people  so  great  an  amount  of  sure  and  precious  information 
on  such  a  variety  of  subjects  on  which  the  rest  of  the 
world  is  at  variance. 

The  governments  mistrusted  the  power  of  infallible 
teaching  vested  in  the  Bishops  of  Rome.  Leo  convinced 
them  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear  on  that  score,  the 
Pope  having  no  right  or  power  outside  the  sphere  of  faith 
and  morals,  and  only  resorting  to  formal  doctrinal  defi- 
nitions, to  which  alone  the  prerogative  of  infallibility  is 
attached,  when  all  other  means  of  teaching  have  been 
exhausted.  His  broad  policy  distributed  the  honors  and 
the  influence  of  the  Church  to  men  of  all  nations,  and  thus 
excited  a  new  and  worldwide  interest  in  her  welfare.  By 
nominating  Cardinals  from  the  most  distant  and  the  most 
hostile  peoples,  and  canonizing  their  saints  and  martyrs, 
he  showed  that  they  too  had  a  claim  in  the  Universal 
Church,  and  thus  drew  them  nearer  to  the  See  of  Peter. 

By  his  affectionate  appeals  to  the  Christians  separated 
by  schism  and  heresy,  he  effectually  promoted  the  yearning 
for  the  reunion  of  Christendom. 

His  skilful  diplomacy  carried  on  negotiations  with  the 
most  unfriendly  governments  and  established  cordial 
relations  with  them.  Bismarck  himself  in  the  end  granted 
partial  liberty  of  conscience,  and  chose  the  Pope  as  arbiter 
in  the  quarrels  between  Spain  and  Germany  concerning  the 
Caroline  Islands.  Although  a  dethroned  prince,  Leo  XIII 
is  the  accepted  leader,  of  princes  and  nations,  and  exerts 
an  immense  influence  over  all  Christendom. 


342  THE  THREE  AGES. 

If  Leo  XIII  has  the  science  of  a  philosopher  and  the 
skill  of  a  diplomat,  he  has  also  the  piety  of  a  monk.  He 
takes  time  to  write  encyclical  sermons  on  the  Rosary 
every  year  and  to  say  his  beads  every  day.  It  is  from 
Heaven  that  he  asks  counsel  and  strength,  and  that  he 
has  received  that  extraordinary  wisdom  which  has  recon- 
quered to  the  Papacy  the  reverence  of  the  whole  world. 

VI.    SOLEMN  ANSWER  OF  CHRISTIANITY  TO  LIBERALISM. 

The  Protestants  had  declared  an  irreconcilable  war 
against  the  Papacy,  without  avail.  The  Freemasons  are 
animated  with  the  same  spirit,  but  they  have  only  bruised 
their  own  heads  against  the  Rock  on  which  Christ  built 
His  Church.  They  hastened  that  most  sublime  moment 
in  modern  history  when  the  representatives  of  the  Universal 
Church,  the  Bishops  gathered  from  all  over  the  world  in 
the  Council  of  the  Vatican,  set  their  solemn  seal  upon  the 
Apostolic  doctrine,  which  no  one  until  modern  times  had 
ever  been  rash  enough  to  impugn,  that  the  Roman  Pontiffs 
are  infallibly  protected  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  their  formal 
decisions  on  matters  of  faith  and  morals  for  the  benefit  of 
the  whole  Church.  To  this  solemn  decision  of  the  official 
judges  appointed  by  Christ  to  speak  in  His  name,  there 
was  a  unanimous  response  from  the  259,000,000  Catholics 
spread  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  recognizing  the  infallible 
teacher  given  by  Heaven,  and  thanking  Christ  for  the  gift 
of  such  precious  light  in  a  world  questioning  everything 
and  fast  returning  to  the  errors  and  vices  of  Paganism. 

What  does  it  matter  that  the  enemies  rage,  provided 
that  they  are  outside  of  our  camp  ?  When  the  Catholics 
are  united  and  faithful  they  can  never  be  overcome. 

All  the  rage  and  frantic  efforts  of  the  Freemasons 
entrenched  in  the  high  places  of  the  world  have  only  the 
one  most  desirable  effect  of  separating  the  camps  of  truth 
and  error  more  completely :  Of  withdrawing  the  Catholics 
from  the  corrupting  influence  of  Liberalism,  grouping  them 
around  the  Chair  of  Peter,  and  saving  all  well-meaning 
Christians  from  the  ravages  of  infidelity.  If  the  Free- 
masons have  succeeded  in  politically  ruining  the  Catholic 


RALLY  AROUND  THE  PAPACY.  343 

nations,  they  will  never  succeed  in  ruining  the  Catholic 
Church,  for  our  Lord  has  sworn  that  "the  gates  of  Hell 
shall  never  prevail  against  it".  The  Lord  of  Hosts  laughs 
at  the  threats  and  the  efforts  of  the  children  of  darkness, 
and  in  the  course  of  centuries  he  will  use  them  to  exalt 
His  Church,  just  as  He  used  the  Protestant  Revolt  to 
show  that  all  the  rage  of  the  world  cannot  uncrown  his 
Vicar  on  earth,  or  despoil  him  of  his  God-given  powers 
and  of  his  prestige  among  the  people  of  every  clime. 


CHAPTER  FORTYSIXTH. 
THE  VICARS  OF  CHRIST. 

I   will   give   to   thee   the   keys   of  the  Kingdom    of  Heaven. 

MATTHEW   XVI,    19. 

I.    ONLY  CLAIMANTS  OF  PETER'S  KEYS. 

TTHERE  is  only  one  line  of  Bishops  who  claim  to  hold 
the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  These  are  the 
Bishops  of  Rome.  Their  life-sized  portraits  are  engraven 
in  imperishable  mosaics  in  the  great  basilica  of  St.  Paul's 
Without  the  Walls,  with  the  exact  dates  of  their  accession 
and  their  demise.  There  have  been  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  legitimate  Popes,  and  four  others  of  doubtful  claims 
have  also  been  allowed  a  place  in  the  series.  On  an  average 
each  Pontiff  has  reigned  seven  years  and  three  months. 
Twentyfive  reached  twenty  years,  and  only  two  twentfive. 
Were  they  the  Vicars  of  Christ,  holy  and  beneficent,  like 
their  Master?  They  have  been,  beyond  all  question,  the 
best  princes,  the  wisest  rulers  and  the  greatest  civilizers 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

II.    THE  BEST  OF  PRINCES. 

The  mode  of  Papal  election  is  calculated,  humanly 
speaking,  to  secure  the  best  man  in  Christendom.  In  the 
beginning,  when  the  Roman  Christians  were  few  and  all 
were  fervent,  they  were  all  entitled  to  a  voice  and  they 
elected  none  but  saints.  Now  seventy  Cardinals,  the  most 
distinguished  and  virtuous  prelates  of  the  Church,  con- 
stitute the  electoral  college.  At  the  death  of  a  Pope  they 
gather  in  solemn  conclave,  and  remain  in  a  locked  hall,  to 
be  free  from  worldly  influences,  until  they  have  chosen  a 
new  successor  to  the  Blessed  Apostle  Peter.  They  have 
separate  cells  and  hold  no  unnecessary  private  com- 
munications, but  commune  with  God  alone,  who  inspires 
them  to  elect  the  man  destined  by  Providence.  Several  of 
the  Popes  were  elected  by  enthusiastic  acclamation. 


THE  VICARS  OF  CHRIST.  345 

History  testifies  that  the  Popes  have  usually  been  holy 
men.  More  than  one-third  practiced  virtue  in  a  heroic 
degree.  Eightyfour  have  been  canonized,  and  at  least  four 
others  might  \vell  be  so.  Thirty  five  were  put  to  death 
for  the  faith — thirty  by  the  Pagans,  four  by  the  Arians 
and  one  by  the  Eutycheans.  During  the  three  first  cent- 
uries the  Chair  of  Peter  was,  as  it  were,  a  scaffold  for  its 
incumbents,  and  at  all  times  the  tiara  has  been  a  crown 
of  thorns  for  its  wearers. 

Where  else  is  there  such  a  long  line  of  princes  who 
were  models  for  their  subjects?  Power  and  glory  seem  to 
turn  the  heads  of  rulers;  seduction  and  flattery  ensnare 
their  hearts.  Even  most  of  the  kings  of  the  people  of  God 
under  the  Old  Covenant  turned  bad  after  their  accession 
to  the  throne.  Here  the  humblest  man  is  made  the  greatest 
ruler  on  earth.  A  swineherd,  a  son  of  a  carpenter,  a 
begging  monk,  ascends  the  most  glorious  of  thrones,  and 
still  he  remains  humble  and  styles  himself  the  servant 
of  servants. 

Luther  claimed  that  the  Popes  are  Antichrists,  and 
the  Centuriators  of  Magdeburg  maintained  that  there  had 
been  thirty  bad  Popes  and  hence  drew  the  conclusion  that 
the  Roman  Pontiffs  could  not  be  the  Vicars  of  Christ. 
But  if  that  number  were  true  it  would  not  prove  that  the 
Popes  as  a  class  were  bad  men,  and  still  less  that  they 
were  not  the  visible  heads  of  the  Church.  Where  is  the 
Protestant  to  say  that  the  Apostles  could  not  be  the 
representatives  of  God  because  there  was  a  Judas  among* 
the  twelve?  Where  is  the  Christian  to  say  that  the  pro- 
genitors of  Christ  as  given  in  the  Gospel  could  not  have 
really  been  his  ancestors  because  at  least  four  notorious 
sinners  are  mentioned  among  them?  Thirty  was  the 
number  claimed  at  first  by  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the 
Popes.  But  historical  investigations  have  cleared  al- 
most all  of  them  from  the  charges  laid  against  them. 
Today  no  true  historian  would  condemn  the  lives  of 
more  than  six  Popes,  and  some  great  Protestant 
authorities  accuse  no  more  than  three,  while  others 
equally  great  altogether  exonerate  even  two  of  these. 
These  men  of  doubtful  character  were  not  permitted  by 


346  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Providence  to  reign  long,  or  to  promulgate  any  error. 
They  were  recognized  by  Catholics  as  the  Vicars  of  Christ, 
an  evident  sign  that  the  Church  does  not  depend  on  the 
virtues  of  men,  but  on  the  Providence  of  God.  Moreover, 
their  worst  enemies  must  admit  that  these  Pontiffs, 
questionable  as  to  their  own  personal  conduct,  were  still 
the  best  statesmen,  or  the  most  generous  and  enlightened 
patrons  of  art  and  letters,  of  their  times. 

III.    THE  WISEST  OF  STATESMEN. 

The  Popes  have  formed  the  most  heterogeneous  and 
yet  the  most  coherent  empire  that  ever  existed.  They 
have  united  and  kept  together  259,000,000  men  of  the 
most  diverse  origin  and  the  most  opposite  interests. 
The}7  have  no  army  with  which  to  conquer  the  nations, 
or  garrisons  to  keep  them  in  subjection.  But  they 
have  the  Divine  mission  to  convert  all  the  world  to 
Christ,  and  they  are  endowed  with  the  prerogatives  of 
infallibility  and  of  primacy,  in  order  that  they  may  main- 
tain the  people  of  God  in  one  faith  and  one  obedience. 
Their  spiritual  conquests  stretch  farther  than  all  the 
armies  of  Alexander,  Mohammed  and  Napoleon  were  able 
to  go ;  their  empire  extends  far  beyond  the  confines  of 
those  of  Augustus,  Charles  V  and  Victoria. 

The  Popes  have  built  up  the  most  cosmopolitan  of 
empires.  Under  their  direction  the  unarmed  messengers  of 
Christ  went  to  every  tribe  and  every  nation,  and  they 
won  them  for  their  master  wherever  they  were  not  shut 
out  or  driven  away  by  brute  force.  There  never  was  a 
worldly  prince,  philosopher  or  prophet  whose  sway  passed 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  his  own  nation,  unless  powerful 
armies  led  the  way.  The  Popes  were  the  first  and  only 
rulers  who  bridged  over  nationalities  and  through  per- 
suasion alone  united  peoples  of  different  origin  and  different 
character.  They  themselves  have  belonged  to  fourteen 
different  nations,  and  all  alike  worked  with  zeal  and 
success  to  extend  the  reign  of  Christ  to  the  ends  of  the 
world.  There  are  in  the  series  one  hundred  and  four 
Romans,  one  hundred  and  four  Italians,  fourteen  French- 


THE  VICARS  OF  CHRIST.  347 

men,  nine  Greeks,  seven  Germans,  five  Dalmatians,  five 
Asiatics,  three  Africans,  three  Spaniards,  one  Hebrew,  one 
Thracian,  one  Fleming,  one  Portuguese,  one  Candiote  and 
one  Englishman.  The  Romans  and  Italians  have  naturally 
been  the  most  numerous,  because  they  belonged  to  the 
nationality  which  they  were  to  govern  as  temporal  princes, 
or  over  which  they  were  to  hold  direct  spiritual  sway — 
the  Popes  being  not  only  Bishops  of  Rome,  but  Metro- 
politans of  the  Roman  Province  (with  the  incumbents  of 
the  six  Suburban  Sees  as  suffragans)  and  Primates  of 
Italy.  They  are  also  better  trained  in  the  methods  of  the 
Holy  See,  and  endowed  with  that  practical  talent  for 
administration  which  enabled  the  Romans  of  old  to  rule 
the  world  so  successfully. 

The  Popes  maintained  the  Christians  in  unity,  notwith- 
standing the  terrific  strifes  introduced  by  schismatics  and 
heretics.  Ambitious  prelates  and  princes  attempted  to 
divide  the  Church  of  Christ,  by  detaching  parts  of  it  from 
the  Center  of  Unity  and  subjecting  them  to  their  own 
power.  But  they  signally  failed,  or  if  they  seemed  to 
succeed  they  clipped  off  only  rotten  and  decaying  branches, 
which  could  bear  no  fruit. 

There  have  been  in  round  numbers  about  fifty  schisms  ; 
a  very  few  of  them  are  still  in  existence,  to  the  great 
detriment  of  their  adherents,  even  on  this  earth. 

There  have  arisen  about  thirtythree  antipopes,  who- 
taken  collectively,  covered  a  period  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy  years. 

During  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  the  princes  of 
Tusculum  and  Tuscany  controlled  Rome,  and  they  placed 
their  friends  upon  the  See  of  Peter,  either  as  Popes  or 
antipopes. 

Several  emperors  of  Germany  and  kings  of  France 
endeavored  to  bring  the  Popes  under  their  control.  The 
Henrys  raised  up  no  fewer  than  seven  antipopes ;  and 
Philip  the  Fair,  by  inducing  the  Popes  to  fix  their  residence 
at  Avignon,  prepared  the  way  for  a  series  of  deplorable 
succession-troubles  (1378 — 1417),  which  led  to  the  develop- 
ment of  theories  derogatory  to  the  prerogatives  of  the 


348  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Holy  See.  But  a  great  Ecumenical  Council  was  held  at 
Florence  (1438 — '42),  where  all  the  nations,  not  only  of 
the  West  but  also  of  the  East,  recognized  the  supremacy 
of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  over  the  Universal  Church. 

The  Roman  Pontiffs  kept  the  bulk  of  the  Christians  in 
one  mind  on  the  great  questions  which  divide  and  disturb 
the  rest  of  mankind.  They  formed  committees  of  the  most 
learned  men  to  study  the  new  and  difficult  questions  of 
the  times.  During  the  Middle  Ages  alone  they  founded  in 
Christian  Europe  sixty  six  universities,  which  spread  such 
a  light  on  religion  that  for  a  thousand  years  no  heresy  of 
any  consequence  arose.  Against  the  Greco-Syrian  sophists 
and  German  rationalists  they  gathered  the  Bishops,  the 
Divinely-appointed  judges  of  faith,  in  Ecumenical  Councils, 
which  crushed  these  heretics  by  the  weight  of  their 
authority  and  influence  of  their  numbers.  In  our  day  so 
many  errors  are  advanced  that  it  is  impossible  to  convene 
councils  against  all  of  them.  The  Vatican  Council  pro- 
claimed what  had  alwas  been  believed:  that  the  Popes 
are  infallible  in  their  decisions  on  matters  of  faith  and 
morals.  The  Catholics  have  a  judge  competent  to  condemn 
any  error  liable  to  injure  their  souls,  and  they  submit  to 
his  decisions  with  implicit  confidence,  knowing  that  they 
are  infallibly  guided  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Protestants, 
on  the  contrary,  give  rise  to  every  error,  and  cannot  con- 
demn or  root  out  any  one  of  them. 

IV.    THE  GREATEST  OF  CIVILIZERS. 

The  most  glaring  historical  lie  which  the  Liberals  have 
incessantly  repeated  is  that  the  Popes  are  a  hindrance  to 
civilization  and  their  temporal  power  a  drawback  to  Italy. 
For  the  Roman  Pontiffs  were  always  the  leaders  in  civil- 
lization,  and  precisely  for  this  reason  Italy  was  the  most 
advanced  land  in  the  world.  This  fact  Leo  XIII  showed 
in  the  first  of  his  Encyclicals,  and  he  has  not  ceased  to 
inculcate  it  during  all  the  years  of  his  reign.  The  Popes 
are  the  fathers  of  civilization,  as  we  have  seen  illustrated 
in  innumerable  ways.  When  the  fierce  Attila  advanced 
with  his  wild  warriors  to  destroy  Rome,  Leo  the  Great, 
vested  in  his  pontifical  garments,  met  him  and  his  warriors 


THE  VICARS  OF  CHRIST.  349 

and  bade  them  turn  back;  and  thus  he  saved  Rome  from 
utter  ruin.  When  hordes  of  barbarians  poured  over  western 
Europe,  the  Popes  ordered  the  monks  to  snatch  from  the 
flames,  treasure  up  and  reproduce  the  monuments  of 
ancient  learning  and  taste,  in  order  to  preserve  them  for 
future  generations.  Thus  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the 
masterpieces  of  letters  and  the  arts  were  preserved.  Hardly 
had  the  barbarians  settled  down,  when  the  Roman  Bishops 
sent  missionaries  to  convert,  to  educate  and  to  civilize 
them.  The  Order  of  St.  Benedict  was  the  special  instru- 
ment prepared  by  Providence  for  that  great  work,  and  it 
enrolled  in  its  ranks  all  the  life-forces  of  civilization.  Every 
monastery  and  every  church  had  to  have  a  school ;  univer- 
sities arose  and  great  philosophers  flourished  in  times 
hardly  free  from  barbarian  invasions. 

The  Popes  were  the  protectors  of  the  people  against 
half-civilized  princes.  They  were  the  arbiters  of  Europe, 
and  settled  many  national  and  international  troubles,  and 
thus  prevented  many  wars  among  savage  and  aggres- 
sive tribes. 

The  city  of  Rome  reaped  the  most  glorious  fruit  from 
their  civilizing  influence ;  she  became  the  home  of  arts  and 
letters,  and  to  this  day  she  is  truly  the  museum  of  the 
world.  When  Constantinople  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
savage  Turks,  many  treasures  of  art  and  science  were 
saved  and  deposited  in  the  museums  of  Rome  and  Florence, 
and  the  Greek  doctors  found  a  hearty  welcome  in  the  city 
of  the  Popes.  Thus  for  a  second  time  did  the  Roman 
Pontiffs  save  the  remnants  of  a  dying  civilization.  The 
outcome  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  for  Italy  a  renewal  of 
letters  and  the  arts,  equal  to  that  of  the  Age  of  Augustus, 
and  it  was  called  the  Age  of  Leo  X,  that  Pontiff  being 
the  great  patron  of  the  liberal  arts.  The  Popes  have 
advanced  Italy  more  than  a  century  ahead  of  the  other 
countries.  It  is  a  singulary  perverted  public  opinion  which 
will  dare  to  say  that  the  Popes  are  a  drawback  to  their 
country. 

If  the  Popes  made  Europe,  Mohammed  unmade  the 
rest  of  the  civilized  world.  He  carried  on  a  perpetual 
warfare  for  the  propagation  of  his  sect,  and  he  allowed 


350  THE  THREE  AGES. 

the  degrading  slavery  and  polygamy  which  are  a  death- 
blow to  the  energies  of  man.  Starting  in  632,  Moham- 
medanism sent  its  mighty  armies,  like  the  waves  of  the 
ocean,  to  the  ends  of  the  world.  The  Christian  nations 
were  young  and  divided,  but  the  Popes  united  them  against 
their  common  enemy.  Urban  II  spoke  so  forcibly  to  the 
Christian  warriors,  that  they  became  true  soldiers  of  the 
Cross  and  formed  a  dyke  against  the  Mohammedan  deluge. 
For  a  thousand  years  did  the  Mohammedans  threaten  all 
Christendom,  and  for  a  thousand  years  the  Popes  stirred 
up  Crusaders  in  defense  of  the  Church  of  God. 

The  Popes  alone  produced  and  preserved  Christian 
civilization.  No  schismatical  patriarch  or  Protestant 
minister  ever  fully  converted  and  civilized  a  single  nation. 
No  Greek  emperor  or  Protestant  prince  crushed  the 
Mohammedan  monster.  That  was  a  struggle  between 
the  City  of  God  and  the  City  of  Satan,  and  it  was  won 
fay  the  Catholic  princes  under  the  guidance  of  the  Popes. 

V.    THE  CHRISTIAN  WORLD'S  DEMAND. 

The  world  knows  so  well  that  the  Bishops  of  Rome 
•are  the  Vicars  of  Christ  that  all  His  enemies  have  turned 
their  rage  against  them  and  all  His  friends  have  given 
them  their  love.  The  Roman  emperors  drove  them  to  the 
lowest  dungeons  of  the  Mamertine  prison,  and  the  damp 
galleries  of  the  catacombs.  Greek,  German  and  French 
emperors  and  Italian  kings  and  demagogues  have  often 
•cast  them  into  prison  or  driven  them  into  exile.  Today 
the  Freemasons  have  robbed  them  of  their  kingdom,  and, 
so  far  as  possible,  of  their  independence  in  the  government 
of  the  Christian  world.  But  the  Catholics  have  a  throne 
for  the  Yicars  of  Christ.  Const antine  left  them  the  city 
of  the  Caesars,  Pepin  gave  them  a  kingdom,  the  Italian 
republics  called  them  their  leaders  and  the  Christian  states 
their  arbiters.  Today  259,000,000  of  Catholics  venerate 
them  as  their  spiritual  fathers,  and  they  want  to  see  them 
again  independent  upon  the  throne  of  Gregory  VII  and 
Innocent  III. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

List  of  works  freely  made  use  of  by  the  Author  in  the  Preparation  of  this 
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Modern  History. 

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Modern  History. 
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STIEFELHAGEN,  F.    Kirchengeschichte  in  Lebensbildern. 
WEDEWER,  H.    Outlines  of  Church  History. 

LEARNED  AND  CRITICAL  GENERAL  HISTORIES. 

ALZOG,  JOHN.    Universal  Church  History.    Three  volumes. 
BIRKHAEUSER.    History  of  the  Church.    Two  volumes. 
BRUECK,  HEINRICH.    History  of  the  Catholic  Church.    For  the 

use  of  seminaries.    Two  volumes. 
DARRAS,  J.  E.     General  History  of  the   Catholic  Church.    Four 

volumes. 
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volumes. 

SPECIAL  HISTORICAL  STUDIES,  LEARNED  OR  POPULAR. 

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in  England. 
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352  THE  THREE  AGES. 

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MAITLAND.    (Noncatholic.)    The  Dark  Ages. 
MARSHALL.    Christian  Missions. 
MCCARTHY,  JUSTIN.    History  of  Our  Own  Times. 
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INDKX. 


Absolutism  opposed  by  Popes,  127,  136,  143;    prevented  by  Feudalism, 

127;  revived  by  Sectaries,  139,  255,  256. 
Abuses  in  Church,    9,   15,   135;  their  causes,    117,  130,  131,  158;    their 

removal  shows  divine  protection,   12,  279. 
Act  of  Conformity,  249;   of  Supremacy,  240,  241,  249. 
Adultery  of  kings  rebuked,  145,  146. 

Ages,  Ancient,  Middle,  Modern,  10;   Happy,  Unhappy,  1. 
Agnostics,  279,  305. 
Agriculture  promoted  by  Monks,  99,  119,207;  ruined  by  Barbarians,  117; 

by  Mohammedans,  99,  192;  by  Revolutionists,  318. 
Alaric,  104. 

Albigenses,  120,  144,  146,  168,  169;  their  Communism,  331. 
Alexander,  III,  98,  102,  137;    VI,  162;  St.,  68,  69;  of  Hales,  166. 
Alexandrian  Library,   192;  Philosophers,  46;  School,  60. 
Allemanni,   110,  112. 
Alva,  Duke  of,  262. 
America,  Evangelization  of,   163,  184;  helped  by  the  Church,  193,   222; 

American  Missionaries,   296;    Martyrs,    296;    Protestants,    266, 

288,  294. 

Anabaptists,  120,  231,  265,  267,  271,  331. 
Anarchy,    329,    332,    334;    the    result    of   Freemasonry,    220,    226;    of 

Liberalism,  8,  328,   332,   333 ;    of  Protestantism,  333 ;    remedied 

by  the  Church,  333. 

Anglo-Saxons,  tttfeir  Conversion,  110—112. 
Ansgar,  St,   113. 

Antichrists,  not  the  Popes  but  the  Reformers,  220,  275,  345. 
Anti-Christian  Conspiracy,  307,  311,  313—325. 
Anti-Councils:  Arian,   70 — 71;    Iconoclastic,  85;  Nestorian,  77;  German, 

132,  133;  Basle,  155. 

Antiochian  School,  60;   Patriarchate,  46,  77,  79. 
Antipatriarch,    of  Alexandria,   91;     of  Antioch    91;    of  Constantinople, 

89—92,   211. 
Antipopes:  Clement  III,  133—134;   Felix  V.,  155,  159,  161;    of  Avignon, 

152,  153;  Thirtythree,   347. 

Apathy  of  Modern  Catholics,  321,  323,  325—327. 
Apostasy,  of  France,  315 — 319 ;    the  greatest  crime,   8 ;    the  outcome  of 

Freemasonry,    314—316;    of  Heresy,   64,  78,  220,  238,    287:    of 

Schism,  91,  92. 


II  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Apostates,  Pardon  refused  to,  and  Sacramental  Power  denied,  74,  75. 
Apostle  of  England,  111,  112;  Hungary,  115;  Japan,  285;  the  Albigenses, 

176;  the  Germans,  112;    the  Gentiles,  47,  334;    the    Indies,    283 

—285 ;  the  Negroes,  290. 
Apostles,    contrast  with    Sectaries,  32;  Divine  Commission,  21,   28,  41; 

their  Preaching  in  Traditions,    their   Writings  in  Scriptures,  41; 

their  Zeal,  47. 
Apostolic  Labors  of  Benedictines,  118;  of  Friars  Preachers,  169;  of  Jesuits, 

278,    294;      Liturgies,    45;     Methods,     281—283;    Success    over 

Nations,  280;  Spirit,   175,  222;   Traditions,  69;   Types,  46. 
Apostolicity,  of  the  Church,  45,  76,  269 ;  Sects  too  late  to  possess,  220. 
Arabs,  194—199;  Arabian  Figures  are  Indian,  193. 
Arbitration,  Papal,  97,  143—147;  in  1899,  147. 
Arianism,  its  Condemnation,  67,  68;    Divisions,  72;  Disappearance,    73; 

Persecutions  by,  110;    Punishment,  64,  196,  197. 
Aristotle,  Philosophy  of,  22,  23,  60,   162. 

Art,  Fostered  by  the  Church,  101,  125,  163,  207,  292,  311,  349. 
Asia,  Heretics  of,  78,  195,  281;  Mohammedanism  in,  99,  191—195;  Wars 

between  Europe  and,  200—203,  254. 
Asylum,  Right  of,  121,  122. 
Athanasius,  St.,  62,  67—73,  76,  117. 
Atheism,  304,  332. 

Augsburg  Confession,  268;   Peace,  257. 
Augustine,     St.,    of  Hippo,     14,    23,    24,    28,    63,    75,    76,    229,    277 

of  England,   111. 

Augustinian  Friars,  176,  228,  276. 
Austria  defends  Europe,  212,  214 ;  Jesuits  in,  278 ;   Jews  in,  38 ;   Joseph 

II.  of,  300 ;  Protestantism  in,  266,  278. 

Authority,  Divine,  152,  227,  274,  334;    lacking  in  Sectaries,  273,  274. 
Avignon  Exile,  148;  Schism,  151—161. 
Babel,  Tower  of,  224. 
Bagdad,  Caliphate  of,   99,  192,  195. 
Balance  of  power  maintained  by  the  Popes,  136. 
Baldwin  of  Flanders,  Latin  Emperor,  205. 
Baptist  Sectaries,  268,  271. 
Barbarians,  Arianism  among,    72;    Civilized  by  Church,    14,    101,   117, 

127,  219,  349;  Conversion  of?   72,  109,  166,  226,  291;    Diverted 

on  Western  Europe  by  Byzantine  Emperors,  103,  195;  European, 

described,   119,  120;    Europe  protected  against  by  Church,    102, 

103,  107,  124,  165,  181 ;  the  Scourge  of  God,  53. 
Barbarism,  abuses  resulting  from,   95,   107,   121,  136,  179,  180;    caused 

by  Communism,  332;  by  Infidelity,  301;  by  Mohammedanism,  99, 

187,  189,  210—211. 

Barlow,  alleged  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  244. 
Barneveldt,  put  to  death  by  Fellow-Calvinists,  269. 
Bartholomew,  St.,  42,  43,  261. 
Basil  I,  II,  195 ;  St.,  62 ;  the  Macedonian,  86,  87. 


CONTENTS.  Ill 

Basle,  Council  of,  158,  159;  Anticouncil  of,  155,  160. 

Belgium,  Catholic  Victories  in,  322,  326 ;  Calvinists  of,  238, 258 ;  Christian 
and  Unchristian  Education  in,  322;  Churches  of,  184;  Vandalism 
of  Calvinists  in,  263;  Tyranny  of  Freemasons  in,  307,  313;  Social 
Reform  in,  333. 

Benedict  VIII,  106,  197;  XI,  152;  XIII,  Claimant  to  Papacy,  156,  157; 
St.,  117,  121. 

Benedictine  Order,  a  powerful  civilizing  Agency,  97,  122,  349 ;  Eng- 
land's debt  to,  111 ;  Nuns,  118 ;  Offshoots  of,  173,  174 ;  of  St. 
Maur,  276. 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  St.,  173. 

Berthellier  put  to  death  by  Calvin,  236. 

Bessarion,  Cardinal,  91,  161. 

Betrayed  of  Catholic  Nations  by  Freemasons,  324. 

BIBLE,  Canon  of,  40 ;  partly  rejected  by  Luther,  229 ;  confirmed  by  Gentile 
Tradition,  1 ;  by  Jews,  40;  its  Circulation  in  the  Middle  Ages,  120, 
184, 229 ;  its  Abuse  by  Protestants,  221, 264, 266, 282 ;  itsExcellence, 
29,  30 ;  Gentile  Scriptures  and  Koran  indebted  to  it,  26,  188 ; 
Preserved  by  Monks,  120;  Private  Interpretation  of,  231,  264, 
274;  Versions  of,  45,  113,  120,  184,  229. 

Bigamy  allowed  to  Philip  of  Hesse  by  Luther,  232. 

Bishops  at  Councils  of  Clermont,  201 ;  Nicea,  68,  69 ;  Trent,  222 ;  Vati- 
can, 335;  their  Laws,  63,  131,  151;  Sectarian:  Arian,  64;  Epis- 
copalian, 244,  246,  269,  287;  Jansenist,  267;  Methodist,  270; 
Nestorian,  77;  Schismatic  Latin,  132;  Separatist  Oriental,  288. 

Bismarck,  325,  341. 

Blessings  of  Christianity,  9 — 12. 

Blessings  promised  to  God's  Servants,   179. 

Blood  of  Martyrs,  50,   55,  57,  58,  285,  296. 

Bloody  Mary,  a  Misnomer,  244. 

Bohemia,  Church  of,  114;  Heresy  in,  171. 

Boleyn,  Ann,  240,  243,  244. 

Bollandists,  57. 

Bonaventure,  St.,  166,  167,  183. 

Boniface,  St.,  112;  VIII,  Pope,  148. 

Book  of  Common  Prayer,  244. 

Books  burnt  by  Omar,  192,  by  Infidels,  316,  by  Llorente,  263 ;  Collected 
and  made  by  Monks  in  Middle  Ages,  119,  120,  183. 

Bora,  Catherine,   232. 

Bossuet  cited,  1,  230,  261. 

Bouillon,  Godfrey,  204. 

Bourbon  Dynasty,   262,  301. 

Brahminism,  3,  4 ;  Conversions  of  Brahmins,  285. 

Brazil,  Church  of,  225,  298. 

Brebeuf,   Martyr,  295,  296. 

British  Church  refuses  to  Evangelize  its  Enemies,  111. 

Broad-church  Episcopalianism,  270. 


IV  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Brotherhood  of  Man,  first  realized  by  the  Popes,  96,  226. 

Brothers  of  the  Common  Life,  176. 

Bruges,  powerful,  181,  249. 

Bruno,  St.,   114. 

Brussels  City  Hall,  185;   Missionary  College,  281. 

Buddha,  3,  26;  Buddhism,  4,  284. 

Bulgarian  Church,  115,  143;  Rite,  45,  117;  Schism,  87,  91. 

Bulwarks  of  Christendom,  196,  199,  205,  202. 

Burning  of  Men,  Churches  and  Property  by  Infidels,  316,  318;  of  Knights 

Templars,  151 ;    of  Records    of  Inquisition,   263 ;    of  Servetus  by 

Calvin,  236. 

Butcheries  by  Liberals,  313,  318. 
Byzantine  Empire,  its  crimes,  62,  87,  195,  199,  203—205 ;  its  incomplete 

Repentance,  160,  201 ;  its  Last  Testament,  161 ;  its  punishments, 

89,  205,  208—211. 

Caesars,  21,  37,  47,  49,  62,  71,  254. 

Csesarism,  Revival  of,  137,  139,152,221  255— 256,269;  Results,  299— 301. 

Cairo,  Caliphate  of,  195,  201. 

California,  the  Evangelization  of,   293—294. 

Caliphs,  Mohammedan,   92,  99,  195,  201. 

Calixtus  II,  134,  135. 

Calumnies  against  Catholic  Lands,  321;  Jesuits,  301,  310;  Mary  Stuart, 
181,  245,  260;  Middle  Ages,  181;  Monks,  120;  Popes,  132,  140, 
150,  151;  of  Freemasons,  225,  301,  321,  322;  of  Heretics,  70, 
95,  147,  220,  225,  228—232,  243—244,  259,  273—276,  278,  283 ; 
of  Infidels,  170,  202,  203,  278;  of  Liberals,  95,  101,  147,  219, 
315,  321—322;  of  Pagans,  51,  54;  of  Schismatics,  86,87;  of 
Tyrants,  149. 

Calvin,  John,  220,  221,  258,  269;  Cited,  278;  his  Inquisition,  235;  his 
Intolerance,  234—235. 

Calvinists,  Persecutors,  257—263,  285,  291 ;  Foes  of  Liberty,  258—263 ; 
their  Disloyalty,  255 ;  Prone  to  Infidelity,  237—238. 

Cannibalism,  284,  289,  290,  291,  314. 

Canonization  of  Saints,  155,  284,  285,  341,  345. 

Canossa,  Fortress  of,  132. 

Canterbury,  Anti-archbishop  of,  244;  See  of,  111,  143—144,  166,  240. 

Cappel,  Battle  of,  258. 

Capuchin  Friars,  276. 

Carbonari,  325,  328. 

Cardinals,  the  College  of,  137,  142,  150,  156—158,  213,  280,  336,  341, 
344;  unworthy,  132,  137,  149,  155,  156. 

Carmelites,  The,  176,  276. 

Carpenter's  Son,  Jesus  a,  31;   Gregory  VII.  a,    181,  345. 

Carthage,  Councils  of,  41,  75,  76. 

Carthusian  Monks,  174. 

Castelfidardo,  Battle  of,  337. 

Castes  of  India,  3,  7,  285. 


CONTENTS.  V 

Castile,  Kings  of,  195. 

Catacombs,  The,  53..  57,  58,  233—254. 

Cathedrals,  183 — 185 ;  built  by  Catholic  Masons,  destroyed  by  Free- 
masons, 311;  of  South  America,  242. 

Catherine,  de  Medici,  261;  of  Alexandria,  St.,  57;  of  Aragon,  240;  of 
Cleves,  240;  of  Ricci,  St.,  276. 

Catholic  Europe  triumphs  over  Mohammedanism,  211 — 214;  Forces  and 
Institutions  undermined  by  Freemasons,  320;  Jews,  35;  Kings 
dethroned  by  Freemasons,  323 ;  Nations  mostly  Republics,  141 ; 
Wronged  by  Protestants,  255,  256 ;  ruined  by  Masons,  Jews  and 
Protestants,  223,  307—314,  320—326;  Leagues,  257—261,  326; 
Patriarchs,  89,  211,  287;  Revival  in  Austria,  278,  Belgium,  326, 
England,  13,  243,  270,  Germany,  13,  326,  France,  261,  278,  318, 
Greece,  206,  Italy,  276,  Poland,  278,  Russia,  303,  Switzerland, 
259,  United  States,  13;  Schools,  192,  322;  Scholars,  13;  Social 
Reform,  333;  Universities,  167,  253,  Women  in,  184;  Why  Church 
so  called,  37;  Why  Spanish  Kings  so  called,  170. 

Catholics  act  only  in  self-defense,  170;  excluded  from  public  office,  246; 
Heretics  and  Pagans  united  against,  23,  195;  once  outnumbered 
by  Arians,  71,  and  Nestorians,  78;  persecuted  by  Freemasons, 
323,  Liberals,  220,  Protestants,  230,  295 ;  and  Schismatics,  200 ; 
Superior  virtue  of,  327 ;  their  Apathy,  325—327 ;  their  Struggles 
for  Liberty,  224,  256,  326. 

Celibacy  of  priesthood,  an  ideal,  upheld  by  the  West,  dropped  by  the 
East,  84;  defended  by  Gregory  VII,  130—132. 

Celsus,  Pagan  reviler  of  the  Faith,  51. 

Centuriators  of  Magdeburg,  12,  345. 

Cerularius,  Michael,  his  Schism,  86,  87,  195. 

Cesarini,   Cardinal,  209. 

Chalcedon,  Ecumenical  Council  of,  79. 

Chaldeans,  Conversion  of,  161. 

Charity,  cause  of  Christian  Civilization,  92,  as  contrasted  with  Moham- 
medan Barbarism,  95 ;  of  St.  Charles,  275 ;  of  Sisters,  178,  276 ; 
Lacking  in  Freemasons,  315,  and  Protestants,  232,  241 ;  Solution 
of  Social  Problems,  334. 

Charlemagne,  105,  125. 

Charles  I  of  England,  250,  256,  260,  266. 

Charles  V,  Emperor,  100,  208,  212,  214,  257,  346;  Calumniated  by 
Robertson,  13. 

Charles  Borromeo,  St.,  275,  276;  Oblates  of,  276. 

Charles  Martel,  125,  196,  201. 

Chastity,  Evangelical  Counsel,   117,  176,  232,  277. 

Children  allowed  by  Protestants  to  die  unbaptized,   271. 

Children's  Crusade,  146,   147. 

China,  Evangelization  of,  175,  285;  Gentile  Prophets  of,  26;  Buddhism 
in,  9;  Socialism  in,  330,  331. 

Chivalry,  179 ;  Flower  of,  203 ;  Type  of,  206. 


VI  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Christ,  Abjuring  of,  required  by  Dutch  Calvinists,  286 ;    see  Jesus. 

Christian  II  of  Denmark,  230,  257 ;  III,  230. 

Christian  Civilization,  2,  10;  Commonwealth,  97,  126,  142,  160— Con- 
spired against  by  mediaeval  Emperors,  139 — Defended  by  Popes, 
150— Undermined  by  Heresy,  168;  Doctrine,  Fathers  of,  276; 
Schools,  Brothers  and  Sisters  of,  276;  Social  Order,  333,  334; 
Society,  172,  179,  180;  State  rejected  by  Liberals,  219. 

Christians,  Oriental,  45,  78,  80,  81,  83—92,  114,  161,  194—196,  207, 
281,  287;  degenerate  punished,  228;  enslaved  by  Mohammedans, 
191,  209—211;  persecuted  by  Jews,  38,— Mohammedans,  106, 
190,  201,— Infidels,  301,  311,  315,  318,  324,  325,  and  Pagans, 
23,  49—58,  285,  295;  true,  reject  Protestantism,  230. 

Christianity,  Consequences  of  its  rejection,  124,  306 ;  aided  by  Philoso- 
phy, 24,  59;  its  conflicts  with  error,  49—58,  61—92,  154—161, 
228—278,  335—343;  its  services  to  Civilization,  77,  207. 

Christendom,  its  Constitution,  123,  135,  154;  its  Defenders,  125,  146, 
177;  its  Struggle  against  the  Arabs  and  Turks,  171,  177;  its  Pre- 
ponderance, 11;  unified  and  saved- by  Popes,  99, 126, 147,  200,  208. 

Chrysostom,  St.,   62. 

Church  alone  can  save  Society,  182,  333,  334 ;  alone  survived  Barbarian 
Irruptions,  103;  always  triumphant,  64,  82;  Art,  fostered  by, 
311;  Europe  civilized  by,  100,  211—214,  224,  293,  333;  Contains 
Majority  of  Jewish  race,  44;  Freed  by  Gregory  VII,  107,  135;  is 
God's  Kingdom  on  Earth,  305 ;  its  Democratic  Character,  10 ;  its 
Divine  Constitution,  46,  154 — 160 ;  its  early  glories  revived  in  Pa- 
raguay, 291 ;  its  Indefectibility,  107,  153,  164,  326 ;  Oppressed  by 
Tyrants,  86,  130— 135,  148,  149,  and  Liberals,  219;  Princes  re- 
strained by,  135,  146,  153,  255 ;  Satan's  Warfare  on,  8,  59,  132, 
171,  219—221,  225;  Self-reforming,  64,  279;  Debt  of  United  States 
to,  193. 

Cid,  the  Christian  Hero  in  Spain,  198. 

Cistercian  Monks,  173. 

Cities,  Italian,  Struggle  for  Liberty,  136—140;  Mediaeval,  their  Freedom, 
128,  181. 

City  of  God,  9,  350;  of  Satan,  9,  350. 

Civil  War,  the  Result  of  Protestantism,   171,  230,  257,  261. 

Civilization,  its  Basis,  95— 96;  a  Difficult  Process,  109,  123,  127;  Christian, 
its  Blessings,  2,  its  Trials,  10;  its  Enemies:  Communism,  332 — 
Heresy,  146 — Liberalism,  316;  its  Champions:  Charlemagne,  105 — 
Crusades,  98,  105,  201— Knights,  254— Religious  Orders,  117,  254, 
292,  349 ;  Saved  by  Church,  211—214. 

Clement  V,  148— 152  ;  VI,  152;  VII,  Pope,  240;  VII,  Antipope,  156;  XII, 
309;  XIV,  301. 

Clerk,  Derivation  of  Word,  201. 

Cleves,  Catherine  of,  240. 

Clothes  of  Workingmen  in  Middle  Ages,  182. 

Clovis  and  Clothildis,  110. 


CONTENTS.  VII 

Cluny,  Abbey  of,   121,  173. 

Cobbett,  the  Historian,  13,   170;   Cited,  239,  243,  244,  252,  263. 

Coliseum,  Arena  of  Martyrs,  56,  57. 

Colonization  of  Ireland  with  Protestants  three  times,   250—251. 

Colonni,  the,  149,  150. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  98,  184,  199,  280. 

Comfort,  Popular,  in  Middle  Ages,  181—183 ;  Protestantism  inimical  to,  186. 

Commandments  of  God,  219,  227,  235. 

Commonwealth,  Christian,  168,  202. 

Communes,  Mediaeval,  98,  128,  153,  181,  182,  202. 

Communism,  146,  168,  223,  225,  271,  303,328—333;  in  China,  331 ;  in 

Russia,  332;  Compulsory,  Leo  XIII  on,  328,  329. 
Comnenus,  Michael,  88. 
"Compulsus  feci",   301. 
Concessions,  Doctrinal,  of  Protestants,   221 ;   Papal  Administrative,  158  ; 

to  Civil  Power,  151,  337;  to  Heretics,  79,  81. 
Conciliar  theory  exploded,  158. 
Conclave,  Papal,  155,  341. 

Confederation  of  Arras,  263 ;  of  Kilkenny,  250. 
Confiscation  of  Church  Property  by  Liberals,   223,  294,   314,  325,  335, 

and  Protestants,    241,   248—253,    269;    of  Property  of  Knights 

Templars,  177,  of  Irish  Catholics,  250. 
Conformity  to  Established  Sect  forced,  249,  256. 
Congregationalists,   260,  266,  269. 
Congresses,  Catholic,  38,  229. 
Conrad  IV,  139 ;   Conradin  of  Sicily,   140. 
Conscience,   Liberty  of,  Championed  by  Catholics,   221,   226,  251,  257— 

259;  denied  by  Liberals,  220,   and  Protestants,  230,  246,  255. 
Consecration  of  Emperors,   123,   125,   126;    of  Kings,   112;    of  Knight's 

Sword,  180. 
Conspiracy  against  Church,   39,  47,  220,  307;  against  Pope,  132,  150— 

151;   against  popular  Liberty,  306;    against  Truth,  12;    of  Free- 
masons,   306—314,    320—325;    of   Protestants    against  Catholic 

Governments,  238,  243. 
Constance,  Council  of,  155,  157,  161,  171. 
Constant  II,  81. 

Constantine  the  Great,  54,  67—69,  124,  350;  IV,  81;  V,  85;  XII,  87,  210. 
Constantius,  71,   72. 
Constantinople,  Ecumenical  Councils  of,  (II)  76,  (VI)  78;  Fall  of,  89,  100, 

209—211,  349;  Greek  Empire  of,  199,  201,  205,  206;  Latin  Empire 

of,  146,  208;  Patriarchs  of,  71,  76,  79,  81,  84,  86—88,  113,  161, 

195;  Antipatriarchs  of,  68,  90,  91. 
Constitution  of  Christendom,    11,    123,    129,    139;    of  the  Church,   153, 

155,  159,  160. 

Constitutional  Assembly,  313. 
Consubstantial,  69. 
Convention,  Masonic,  324. 


VIII  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Continence,  its  possibility  denied  by  Luther,   232. 

Conversion,  Divine  Grace  necessary  for,  288 ;  of  Nations  by  Catholics 
alone,  280;  of  World  prevented  by  Protestantism,  283. 

Coptic  Rite,  45,  60,   80,   83. 

Copying  of  Books,   119,  120. 

Cordova,  Khalifate  of,  99,  129,  192,  195—198. 

Cosmopolitanism  of  the  Church,  346. 

Cost  of  the  French  Revolution,  314—315;  of  Protestant  Missions,  282. 

Council,  Egyptian,  68,  of  Ancyra,  84,  Aries,  71,  81,  Basle,  158,  Carthage, 
41,  75,  76,  Clermont,  201,  Dijon,  145,  Elvira,  84,  Limoges,  121, 
London,  171,  Milan,  71,  Mileve,  76,  Pisa,  156,  Sardica,  71,  Toledo, 
111,  Toulouse,  169,  Verona,  169,  Thrullan,  84;  Apostolic,  46,  86, 
133;  Ecumenical,  63,  see  Ecumenical;  guided  by  Jesus  Christ,  279; 
condemn  heretics,  63,  64. 

Counter-revolutions  in  Latin  Countries,   323. 

Cranmer,  Thomas,  240—243. 

Creed,  Chalcedonian,  79,  Ephesian,  77;  Nicene,  69;  Episcopalian,  244, 
Augsburg  and  Dresden,  268. 

Crime,  Catholicity  made  a,  20. 

Crimes,  Economic,  182;  of  Heretics,  168,  235,  243,  245,  246,  261;  of 
Infidels,  309—310,  317 ;  of  Pagans,  50 ;  of  Schismatics,  241 ;  the 
greatest  of,  8,  168,  224. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  250—251,  256,  260,  269;   Thomas,  240,  242,  249. 

Cross,  The,   28,  36,  54,  56,  167,  199,  204,  213,  286,  316. 

Cruelty  of  Albigcnses,  168,  American  Indians,  291,  Calvinists,  234,  Hugue- 
nots, 261,  Jacobins,  314,  Protestant  Sovereigns,  239,  243,  256, 
Worldly  Kings,  140,  198;  Opposed  by  the  Church,  226. 

Crusade,  Antislavery,  287;  I,  202—204;  II,  173,  205;  III,  205;  IV,  146, 
205;  V,  146,  206;  VI,  206;  VII,  206;  VIII,  206. 

Crusades,  against  Heretics,  146,  165,  168—169 ;  against  Mohammedans, 
115,  146,  165,  198,  200,  202,  206,  209 ;  impeded  by  Schismatics, 
89,  91,  199,  203,  205;  Palestinian,  350;  Hungarian,  115,  209; 
Promoted  by  Popes,  97,  138,  146,  201;  Utility,  of  11,  96,  99,  100, 
202,  208,  350. 

Crusaders,  139,  180,  185,  206. 

Cyprian,  St.,  53,  59. 

Cyril  Lucaris,  91;  of  Alexandria,  St.,  77;  of  Moravia,  St.,  113—115. 

Czars  of  Russia,  64,  83,  89,  90,  92,  323. 

Dark  Ages,  The,  13,  95,  107. 

Decius,  his  Crime  and  Punishment,  52,   53. 

Declaration  of  Independence  contradicts  Calvinism,   238. 

Defence,  free  in  Inquisition,  169. 

Defenders  of  Christendom,  125,  146 ;   of  the  People,  180. 

Deformation  of  religion  by  Protestants,  221. 

Degradation  of  Nations,  its  causes,  320—326 ;  of  Church  attempted  by 
Princes,  135;  of  Europe  prevented  by  Crusades,  202;  Woman 
saved  from,  193. 

Deification  of  Heroes,  5. 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Delete  Nomine  Christiano,  54. 

Democracy,  Christian,  38,  123. 

Democratic  Spirit  of  the  Church,  101, 136—141 , 144 ;  of  the  Papacy  345, 349. 

Demon-worship,  49,  290. 

Deponibility  of  Popes,  132,  133,  150,  156,  157,  160. 

Deposition  of  Antipope,   158;  of  Kings  and  Queens,   144,  245,  260,  315; 

of  Emperors,  132—134,  140;  of  unworthy  Clergymen,  131. 
DeSmedt,  Father,  297. 

Despair,  the  Effect  of  Calvinism,  234—237. 
Despotism,    Church  the  Enemy  of,    334;  false  Charges  of,  147;  Heresy 

established  by,  64;  of  Czars,  89;  of  Freemasons,  314;  of  Liberals, 

219;  of  Protestants,  220,  221,  228,  230,  255,  260;  promoted  by 

Schism,  88,  by  Socialism,  334;  Schism  established  by,  64. 
Devils,  Relations  of  Sectaries  with,  75,  168,  233,  271,  302,  303,  308. 
Diaspora,  37,  44. 
Dictator,  Cromwell,  260. 
Diocletian,  Persecution  by,  54. 
Directory,  French,  313,  318. 
Disintegration  of  Sects,  267. 
Dismemberment  of  Germany,  257. 

Dissensions  the  Effect  of  Sectarianism,  64, 221, 231, 264—272 ;  in  Russia,  90. 
Dissolution  of  Protestantism  inevitable,  272. 
Divine  Constitution  of  the  Church,    154,  158,  346;    Grace  necessary  for 

conversion,  288 ;  Inspiration  not  possessed  by  Luther,  229;  Mission 

falsely  claimed  by  Mohammed,  187—189. 
Divinity  of  Church,  12,  162,  279,    337;    of  Jesus    Christ,    attested   by 

Nicene  Council,  69 ;  denied  by  Heretics,  59,  62,  67—82,  by  Pagans, 

10,  49,  51;  Evidences  of,  11,  19,  22,  25—31,  55;  of  Holy  Ghost,  76. 
Divisions  the  Effect  of  Separatism,  83,  163,  208,  211,  225,  272;    their 

evil,  179. 

Divorce  favored  by  Protestantism,   232,  240,  242. 
Doctors,  Heretics  refuted  by,    22,  62—63,  275 ;    of  the  Church,    83,  229, 

273;  Scholastic,  23,  165. 

Doctrinal  Transformations  of  Protestantism,  221—222,  264. 
Doctrine  Confirmed  by  Miracles,  209 ;    Corrupted  by  Sectaries,    74,  229, 

231,  267;  its  Judges,  63;  its  Scientific  Formulation,  59,  63. 
Dogmas,  Fundamental,  70,  82—83;  Links  in  one  Chain,  29. 
Dogmatic  Letter  of  Leo  the  Great,  79. 
Dominic,  St.,  168,  169,  176. 
Donatists,  their  Heresies,  74,  75. 
Draining  of  Marshes  by  Monks,  119. 
Drake,  245. 

Dresden,  Confession  of,  268. 
Drogheda,  Massacre  of,  251. 
Dualism,  4,  168. 
Dunkards,  271. 
Duns  Scotus,  166. 


X  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Dutch  Protestants  colonized  in  Ireland,  251 ;  Persecutions  stirred  up  by, 

285,  295. 

Earnestness  of  Protestants,  221 ;  Spiritual,  of  Middle  Ages,  165. 
East,  Heresies  of  the,  75,  194;    Destroyed  by  Schism,   83;    its  Sufferings 

from  Mohammedanism,  64,  99,  192,  194,  201,  206,  207 ;  Spread 

of  Catholicity,  89,  60,  222,  285. 
Eccelino,  the  Fierce,  139. 
Echienda,  Senor,  294. 
Economic  Questions,  171,  228—334. 
"Ecrasons  PInfame",  303. 
Ecumenical  Councils,  63,  68,  77,  83,  87,  135,  145,  150,  157,  158,  160, 

161,  169,  222,  273—275,  348. 
Ecumenical    Councils:  I,  First  of  Nicea,  325,  Divinity  of  Christ— Arius, 

Celibacy  of  Clergy,  68—70,  84 ;  II,  First  of  Constantinople,  381  ; 

Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost— Macedonius,  76 ;    III,  Ephesus,  431, 

One  Person  in  Christ,  Mary,    the  Mother  of  God— Nestorius,    77 ; 

IV,    Chalcedon,    351,     Two   Natures   in    Christ  —  Eutyches,    79; 

Y,  Second  of  Constantinople,  553,    One  Person— 3  Chapters,   78 ; 

VI,  Third  of  Constantinople,    Two  Wills  in  Christ— Sergius,  81 ; 

VII,  Second  of  Nicea,   787,    Worship  of  Images— Iconoclasts,   85 ; 

VIII,  Fourth    of  Constantinople,    869,    Spiritual    Supremacy    of 
Rome— Photius  and  Greek  Schism,   87;    IX,  First  Lateran,  1123, 
Celibacy   of  Clergy— Lay  Investitures,   135;    X,  Second  Lateran, 
1139,  Confirmation  and  Application  of  Ninth — Arnold  of  Brescia, 
135;  XI,  Third  Lateran,  1179,  Two-Thirds  of  Vote  of  Cardinals 
required  for   the    Election  of  a  Pope— Imperial    Antipopes,    169; 
XII,  Fourth  Lateran  of  Innocent  III,  1215,  Sacraments,  Crusades 
— Albigenses,    145;    XIII,  First  of  Lyons,  1245— Frederic  II,  140; 
XIV,    Second    of  Lyons,    1274— Papal  Conclave,   Greek    Reunion, 
150;  XV,  Vienne,  1311— Templars,  Fraticelli,  150;  XVI,  Florence, 
1439,    Spiritual    Supremacy    of  Popes,    Reunion    of    Greeks,    89; 
XVII,    Trent,    1545—1563,  Sanctification   through   the   Church, 
Reforms— Protestants,  222, 273—275 ;  XVIII,  Vatican,  1869—1870, 
Infallibility  of  the  Popes,  339. 

Eddyites,  271. 

Edict  of  Nantes,  262. 

Editions  of  the  Bible  before  Luther,  184,  229. 

Education,  Antichristian,  322,  326;  Christian,  its  importance,  301,  311; 

Fostered  by    Church,    11 ;    of  Barbarians,    117—122,    183,    297 ; 

Freemasons  its  Enemies,  223,  303 ;    Liberty  of,  226,  252 ;    of  the 

Clergy,  246,  275;  Promoted  by  Jesuits,  233,  278,  291,  301,  312. 
Egypt,  Heresies  in,  78,  80;  Monks  of,  117;  Church  of,  80. 
Eldest  Daughter  of  the  Church,   110. 
Election  of  Officers  in  the  Middle  Ages  123,  181, ;  of  Emperors,  126,  133, 

138,  143 ;  of  Kings,  204,  212 ;  of  Popes,  107,  124,  137,  142,  155, 

157,  158,  163,  336,  344. 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  243—246;  her  Intrigues  with  Rebels,  245;  Terrible 
Persecutions  by,  239,  249—250,  260—263. 

Embezzlements  of  Freemasons,  308. 

Empiricism  at  Antioch,  60. 

Encyclicals  of  Gregory  VII,  134 ;  of  Innocent  I,  76 ;  of  Leo  XIII,  9,  14, 
101,  167,  225,  309  (Freemasonry),  328  (Communism),  330,  333 
(Labor),  340,  341,  348. 

Enemies  of  Church,  64,  148 ;  of  Christian  Nations,  170,  320—326 ;  of 
Liberty,  219;  of  Light,  310;  of  Mankind,  191,  170. 

England,  13,  105,  112,  144,  153,  243,  253,  260,  304;  Church  of,  184, 
278;  Heresy  in,  171,  239—247;  its  Crimes,  250,  294—296,  298, 
320;  its  Debt  to  Popes,  143;  Kings  of,  126,  149.  205;  Origin  of 
Infidelity  in,  222,  299,  302 ;  Persecutions  in,  238,  245,  248,  256, 
260,  263,  268,  294;  Pauperism  in,  through  Protestant  Confisca- 
tions, 246,  247;  Sects  of,  240,  258,  261,  266,  269—271. 

English  Church,  its  Contest  for  Liberty,  144,  242,  its  Destruction  by 
Elizabeth,  244,  its  Devotion  to  Mary,  and  to  the  Pope,  112,  its 
Missionary  Activities,  109,  281,  294;  Seminaries  on  Continent, 
246;  Rights  and  Liberties,  134,  181;  Workingmen,  332. 

Enlightenment,  Church  the  Instrument  of,  106 ;  Infidels  Enemies  of,  303, 306. 

Enslavement  of  American  Indians,  289 ;  of  Catholics  by  Freemasons,  224, 
325;  of  Christians  by  Turks,  209—211;  of  Popes  by  Kings,  alleged, 
152;  of  Schismatics  by  Mohammedans,  161,  195,  196,  199,  and 
of  Women,  287 ;  of  Soul  and  Body  by  Separatists,  258 ;  of  the 
Church  by  the  State,  149,  300,  301,  336. 

Ephesus,  Ecumenical  Council  of,  77;  Robber-Council  of,  79. 

Epicureanism,  22,  60,  221,  229. 

Ephraem,  St.,  63. 

Episcopalianism,  120,  239,  244,  246,  250,  266—270,  281,  285,  287; 
Converts  from,  280. 

Equal  rights  favored  by  Church,  15,  258,  262,  314. 

Equality,  Infidel  Notions  of,  303,  316,  328,  329. 

Errors,  Condemned  by  Church,  62—65,  339,  348;  Exposed  by  Doctors, 
24;  in  Luther's  Translation  of  the  Bible,  225;  Pagan,  revived  by 
Infidels,  304—306. 

Established  Religions,  75,  88,  259,  264,  270,  280. 

Estates,  the  Four,  149,  313,  331. 

Ethiopia,  Church  of,  43,  45,  80. 

Eucharist,  the  Holy,    172,  265. 

Eugenius  III,  Pope,  174;  IV,  Pope,  155,  158,  159. 

Europe,  its  Debt  to  Church,  98,  171,  176,  193;  its  Debt  to  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  123,  196,  208;  its  Debt  to  Crusaders,  115,  177,  193, 
202—204,  211—214,  254;  its  Debt  to  Popes,  146,  163,  214;  its 
Debt  to  Ireland,  110,  248;  its  Debt  to  Jesuits,  278;  its  Debt  to 
Schoolmen,  166;  its  Danger  from  Anticatholics,  320;  Northern, 
Protestantism  forced  on,  220;  Southern,  its  Governments  controlled 
by  Freemasons,  301,  308;  United  by  Popes,  208. 


XII  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  68 ;  of  Nicomedia,  69. 

Eutyches,  79,  see  Monophysites. 

Evangelical  Counsels,  117,  172,  174—176,  made  Commandments,  236; 
Sects  falsely  so  called,  15,  257,  264,  268,  272. 

Evil,  Good  brought  out  of,  59,  64,  72,  194,  224—226,  336;  Material 
World  so  considered  by  Manicheans,  75. 

Evolution,  3,  305,  333. 

Excommunication,  76,81,87,121,  132—135,  139,  149,  150,  240,  245,  337. 

Execution  of  Charles  I,  260,  266 ;  of  Louis  XVI,  315 ;  of  Mary  Stuart, 
245,  260;  by  Tudors,  241,243—246. 

Exile  of  Bishops,  70,  73,  145;  of  Cardinals,  336;  of  Popes,  151,  155,  335. 

Expectation,  General,  of  Messias,  27. 

Extermination  of  Indians  by  Protestants,  293,  297. 

Extremes,  Doctrinal,  of  Heretics,  74. 

Factory  Hands  no  better  off  than  Serfs,  183. 

Faith,  Ages  of,  198;  Blessings  of,  24,  142,  165,  333;  Certitude  of,  24, 
281;  Defenders  of,  24,  69,  154,  168,  171;  Enemies  of,  163,  171, 
228—231,  273,  299,  302,  311,  321;  Heresies  regarding,  221, 
229—232,  268,  274;  Judges  of,  63,  222,  274;  Loyalty  to, 
52,  248,  254;  Perversions  of,  267,  268;  Reasonableness  of,  19,  20, 
23,  24;  the  True,  64,  79,  220;  Unity  of,  165—171,  179;  Propa- 
gation of,  14,  113,  171,  254,  298. 

Fall  of  Man,  1,  32;  Heresies  regarding,  74,  266;  the  second,  8. 

False  Prophet,  see  Mohammed. 

Family,  84,  88;  its  Enemies— Heretics,  331,  Infidels,  223,  329;  Protected 
by  the  Church,  183,  334. 

Fanatism  of  Communists,  332;  Mohammedans,  185,  287;  Protestants, 
238,  262,  278,  288. 

Fatalism,  226;  Calvinistic,  234,  235;  Mohammedan,  8,  99,  189—192; 
Pagan,  8. 

Fate  of  Heresy,  72—74,  80,  194;  of  Schism,  83,  88,  91,  92,  94,  99. 

Fathers  of  the  Church,  23—24,  64,  77—79,  Despised  by  Luther,  229; 
Tridentine,  274. 

Felix  V.  Antipope,  155,  159,  160. 

Ferdinand  I,  Emperor,  212;  II,  257;  III,  257;  the  Catholic,  170,  199. 

Feudal  System,  127,  205;  its  Abuses,  128,  180,  206;  its  Advantages, 
126—129;  its  Relations  to  the  Empire,  126;  Fall  of,  202,  314. 

Fiefs,  127;  Ecclesiastical,  135;  Imperial,  126,  129,  152;  Papal,  144,  149. 

Filioque  Addition  Legitimate,  86,  87. 

Fishermen,  the  Twelve,  21,  33,  35,  41,  47, 

Flanders,  Baldwin  of,  205:  Faithful,  248;  Persecution  in,  262,  263. 

Flemings,  their  Conversion,  112;  their  Love  of  Liberty,  150. 

Flodoard,  the  Historian,  107. 

Florence,  City,  181,  185,  324;  Council  of,  89,  160,  211,  300,  348. 

Food  of  Workingmen  in  Middle  Ages,  182. 


CONTENTS.  XIII 

Force,  used  to  impose  Infidelity,  225,  306,  and  Protestantism,  163,  230, 
241,  255-263. 

Forgeries  of  Sectaries,  149,  229,  301. 

Fourrier,   331. 

France,  Chivalry  in,  180;  Communism  in,  331;  Exile  of  Popes  in,  151— 
153;  Glories  of,  33,  251,  259,  338;  Freemasonry  in,  307,  313, 
319,  323—326,  335;  Heresy  in,  168,  238,  258—262;  Infidelity 
in,  299,  304,  319;  Schism  in,  152,  160,  335:  Southern,  Converted 
from  Protestantism,  278. 

Francis  I,  261;  II,  259;  St.,  of  Assisi,  145,  174—176;  Borgia,  276;  de 
Paul,  176;  de  Sales,  276;  Solano,  276;  Xavier,  222,  276,  283— 
285. 

Franciscan  Friars,   162,  175,  178,  276,  290,  294. 

Franks,  123—125;  Glories  of,  100,  104,  110,  196,  254. 

Fraternity  made  a  Mockery  by  Freemasons,  328,  329. 

Fratricidal  Reformers,  243. 

Fraud  on  the  People,  A,  306,  329. 

Frederic  I  (Barbarossa),  97,  127,  136,  148,  169,  205;  II,  Emperor,  97, 
127,  138,  143,  148,  206;  II,  King  of  Prussia,  268,  302;  of  Pala- 
.  tinate,  257 ;  of  Saxony,  230. 

Free  Cities,  Mediaeval,  129.  152,  153,  180—183. 

Freemasonry,  11,  225,  302,  320,  342,  343;   Encyclical  on,  309. 

Freemasons,  Catholic  Nations  betrayed  to  Foreign  Powers  by,  324;  Ruined 
by,  199,  323,  342—343;  Catholics  in  Servitude  to,  224;  Conven- 
ticles of,  322,  324;  French  Revolution  caused  by,  313,  318,  328; 
Greed  of,  328;  Jesus  Christ  rejected  by,  10,  225;  Jewish  and  Pro- 
testant Sectaries  form  with  them  Antichristian  Alliance,  39,  223 ; 
Persecutors  in  Catholic  Countries,  223,  310,  313,  315—319, 
323,  328,  350;  their  Warfare  on  the  Church,  124,  223,  224,  314, 
316,  336,  340,  350;  Benevolent  Mutual  Societies  in  Protestant 
Countries,  308;  Enemies  of  Learning,  120,  Light,  309,  Liberty, 
225—227,  313—314,  328,  Society,  311 ;  their  Overthrow  in  Bel- 
gium, 322 ;  their  Plots,  338,  339 ;  their  Plunders,  323 ;  their  Poli- 
tical Power,  12,  223,  293,  301,  307—311,  324,  328;  their  ruinous 
Revolutions,  323,  Secret  Power,  320;  a  Scourge  for  Catholic  Apa- 
thy, 224. 

Freethinkers  of  XVIII  Century,  266,  302. 

French  Attempts  on  Papal  Liberty,  347;  Missionaries,  293—297;  Party 
in  Curia,  150;  Popes,  148,  347. 

French  Revolution,  170,  253,  323;  Caused  by  Freemasons,  223,  308, 
313,  317,  318,  323;  Led  by  Jacobins,  314—315;  Made  Hell  of 
France,  315—318;  Scourge  for  first  Public  Apostasy,  316;  to  be 
Outdone  by  Future  Socialists,  333. 

Galerius,  his  Crime  and  Punishment,  54. 
Gallicanism,  112,   149,  299,  300,  336. 
Garibaldi,  325. 


XIV  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Genius,  Creations  of,  120,  125,  189,  185;  of  Calvin,  234;  of  Mediaeval 
Schoolmen,  183;  of  Mohammed,  187;  of  St.  Gregory  VII,  131; 
of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  166;  of  Solyman,  211. 

Genseric,  104. 

Gentiles,  their  Hatred  of  Christ,  7,  20 ;  their  Conversion,  32,  37. 

Georges  Persecute  the  Irish,  252. 

German  Emperors,  their  Services  to  Liberty,  127,  132,  139;  Princes  im- 
pose Protestantism,  243,  262;  Popes,  347;  Protestants  allied  to 
Enemies  of  the  Country,  256. 

Germany,  132;  Emperors,  84,  97,  126,  130,  132,  136—142,  148,  151— 
152,  205,  206 ;  Freemasonry  in,  307,  325 ;  Heresy  in,  228—233, 
258,  259,  266;  Infidelity  in,  299,  302,  304,  348;  its  Debt  to  the 
Popes,  126,  133,  136,  143,  232;  its  Attempts  on  Papal  Liberty, 
142,  148,  347,  350;  its  Sufferings  from  Protestantism,  213,  238, 
256,  258,  265,  271;  Schism  in,  132,  148,  160;  Socialism  in,  331, 
332. 

Ghibellines,  136—140. 

Glasspainting,  Mediaeval,  184,  185. 

Glorious  Future  of  Catholic  Peoples,  327. 

Gobal,  Schismatic  Archbishop  of  Paris,  316. 

God,  His  Care  or  Providence  for  the  Church,  11,  12,  53,  57,  63,  64,  69, 
107,  108,  110,  116,  153,  214,  326;  His  Enemies,  89,  168,  187, 
219,  225,  227,  235,  299,  304,  311,  328,  332;  His  Servants,  see 
Saints ;  His  Instruments,  48,  145,  199. 

Goddess  of  Reason,  319. 

Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  204. 

Gods,  False,  6,  21,  51—69,  112,  290,   304. 

Good  Shepherd,  Sisters  of  the,  276. 

Good  Works  rejected  by  Protestants,  221. 

Goslar,  Simoniacal  Canons  of,  131. 

Gospel,  Battlefields  of  the,  85;  in  the  Rosary,  169;  Prelude  of,  24,  60; 
Rejected  by  Sectaries,  99,  171,  221,  229;  the  only  Solution  of 
Social  Problems,  334 ;  its  Sublimity,  Napoleon  on,  29. 

Goths,  53,  72;  Punished  for  their  heresy,  64,  196. 

Gothic  Architecture,  185. 

Granada,  Capture  of,  199. 

Greed  of  Freemasons  and  Infidels,   293,  294,  328. 

Greek  Catholics,  90—92,  161,  195;  Church,  11,  45,  62,  83—88, 
Fire,  203,  21.0;  Philosophers,  22,  23,  59;  Rite,  88,  91, 
Schism,  61,  64,  89,  90,  92,  195,  199,  208—211,  214,  281. 

Greeks,  Bulgarian,  92,  114;  Melchite,  88,  92;  Roumanian,  92,  114; 
Ruthenian,  92,  114. 

Gregorian  Armenian  Sect,  80,  161. 

Gregory  I,  the  Great,  63,  72,  110,  111;  II,  85,  112';  III,  85,113; 
VII,  St.  (Hildebrand),  84,  98,  106,  107,  121,  130—135,  173,  183; 
IX,  139;  XII,  156;  XIII,  275;  XVI,  324,  338;  of  Nazianza, 
St.,  62. 


.    CONTENTS.  XV 

Guelphs,  136,  138,  160. 

Gueux,  238,  258,   260. 

Guilds,  98,  179,  182,  183,  241,  311. 

Guillotine,  the,  223,  317. 

Guiscard,  Robert,  106,  197. 

Gulf  of  Lepanto,  213. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  257;  Vasa,  230. 

Halfway  Christanity,  67,  221. 

Halls,  Public,  of  the  Middle  Ages,  98,  185. 

Hanoverian  Dynasty,  256. 

Happiness  Promoted  by  True  Religion,  1,  7,  8,  11,  102,  172,  179,  183, 
292,  327. 

Hapsburg,  House  of,  212. 

Hegira  of  Mohammed,  189. 

Hell's  Warfare  against  the  Church,   11,   59,   64,   73,  107,  132,  225,  279. 

Henry  of  France  II,  261;  III,  261;  IV,  261—262;  of  Germany,  II,  St., 
173;  IV,  97,  127,  130—134;  V,  97,  127,  130,  134,  135;  VI,  97, 
127,  138,  143;  of  England,  VIII,  146,  220,  221,  239,  243,  244, 
247—249,  260,  265. 

Heraclius,  81 ;  his  Dynasty,  95. 

Heresiarchs,  60,  68,   70,  76,  220,  221,  264. 

Heresies,  Ancient,  20,  22,  61—82,  116,  194;  Mediaeval,  146,  167—171; 
Modern,  228—272. 

Heresy,  a  Danger  to  the  Commonwealth,  165 ;  Causes  of,  22,  61,  63, 
83,  230;  Compared  to  Fall,  8;  Compared  to  Paganism,  20,  59, 
194 ;  Condemned  by  Councils,  63, 146,  171, 275 ;  the  greatest  Crime, 
8,  59,  74,  172,  194;  Definition  of,  61;  Effects  of,  64,  72,  116,  169; 
Fate  of,. 15,  72,  78,  82;  Propagation  of,  64,  68,  72, 115,  170,  242, 
281 ;  Punishment  of,  64,  72,  99,  168,  169,  171,  194—196. 

Heretics,  Faithless  to  Christ,  62,  74 ;  Mendacity  of,  278 ;  Mutual  Con- 
tradictions of,  62;  Persecutions  by,  48,  77,  79,  81,  200,  259. 

Hermenegild,  St.,  Martyr,  110. 

Hermits,  117,  176,  272. 

Herrnhutters,  the,  266,  268. 

Herod,  27;  Agrippa  I,  43. 

Hindus,  1,  7,  26,  193;   Conversion  of,  282—285. 

History,  Attests  Truth  of  Catholic  Religion,  9,  101,  116,  274,  279; 
Laws  of,  59;  Landmarks  of,  117,  131,  142,  174,  206,  283,  340; 
Middle  Ages  Vindicated  by,  98 ;  of  Philosophy,  63 ;  Papacy  Vin- 
dicated by,  102,  162;  Sectaries  Condemned  by,  225,  236;  the 
Central  Figure  and  Key  of,  25,  30,  29,  219. 

Hohenstauffen  Dynasty,  136,  139,  140,  143,  181. 

Holiness  of  the  Church,  98,  107,  131,  135,172,176,226,275,276,283,291. 

Holland,  Jansenists  of,  267 ;  Protestants,  258,  260—263,  266,  269. 

Holy  Land,  100,  139,  146,  147,  173,  200—202;  Sepulchre,  176,  204. 

Holy  Spirit,  Church  Guided  by,  28,  41—42,  63—64,  166,  222,  348 ;  False 
Claims  of  Inspiration  by,  188,  231. 


XVI  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Holy  Synod  of  Russian  Schism,  90. 

Homage,  Feudal,  128. 

Honor,  Mediaeval  sense  of,  128,  180. 

Honorius  I,  81 ;  III,  139. 

Horrors  of  Freemasonry,   323. 

Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  Knights,  177,  180,  205,  254. 

Howard,  Catherine,   240. 

Huguenots,  278 ;  Disloyalty  of,  258, 261, 262 ;  Persecutions  by,  238, 258, 291. 

Human  Sacrifices,  2,  289,  290 ;  Skin,  Clothes  made  of,  for  Revolutionists, 
318 ;  Substitutes  for  True  Religion,  279,  302. 

Hungarians,  100,  105,  106,  115. 

Hungary,  38,  166,  143,  272;  Andrew  II,  147,  206. 

Huns,  103—105;  the  Modern,  8,  224,  313,  332,  340. 

Hunting  of  Slaves,  191. 

Huron-Iroquois  Indians,  294,  295. 

Hussites,  Enemies  of  Learning,   120. 

lago,  St.,  Knights  of,   170. 

Iconoclasts,  Heresy  of,  74,  83,  85. 

Idealism,  3,  299,  304,  305. 

Ideals,  Deified  by  Pagans,  20. 

Idle  Disputes  of  Protestants,  266. 

Idolatry,  2—6,  7,  20,  59,  112 ;  False  Charges  of,  74,  85, 228, 242,  259, 273. 

Ignatius  Loyola,  St.,  222,  276—278;  of  Antioch,  St.,  51,  54,  55;  of  Con- 
stantinople, 86. 

Ignorance,  False  Charge  of,  124;  of  Church's  Enemies,  140,  147,  166, 
303,  305. 

Illuminati,  Falsely  so-called,  307. 

Images,  74,  84,  175. 

Imperialism,  136—138,  318;  Imperialist  or  Melchite  Christian,  80. 

Impostors,  25,  26,  99,  191. 

Incarnation  of  the  Word,  21,  83;  Heresies  Concerning,  74—82;  World's 
Condition  before,  1—10. 

Indefectibility  of  the  Church,  279. 

Independence  of  the  Church,  84,  137;  of  Holy  See,  123,  124,  136,  151,  350; 
of  United  States,  141,  271;  Promoted  by  Church,  141,  181,  208 
262,  263. 

India,  Church  of,  43,  78,  254,  283—286;  Paganism  of,  3,  5,  304. 

Inequality  of  Human  Powers  and  Rights,  329. 

Infallibility,  not  Possessed  by  Sectaries,  163 ;  of  the  Church,  24,  63,  64, 
76,  81,  162,  163,  335,  339,  342,  346. 

Infidelity,  12,  19,  23,  171,  222,  301,  336;  a  great  Crime,  8,  305;  Con- 
trary to  Reason,  23,  165,  305;  Imposed  by  Force,  170,  223; 
Inimical  to  Progress,  120,  185,  186;  Propagated  by  Freemasons, 
321,  322;  the  Outcome  of  Protestantism,  221,  266,  267,  286, 
299—305. 


CONTENTS.  XVII 

Infidels,  194,  213,  253;  Control  Freemasonry,  311;  Mendacity  of,  51, 
170,  263,  278;  Persecution  by,  177,  184,  223,  310—319,  335; 
Testimony  of,  185,  303. 

Ingelberga,   145,   146. 

"In  hoc  Signo  vinces",  54. 

Innocent  I,  41,  76;  III,  98,  102,  138,  142,  144—147,  175;  IV,  139; 
XI,  213. 

Inquisition,  Ecclesiastical,  165—170;  Spanish,  170,  199,  262,  263;  Cal- 
vinistic,  235;  Elizabethan,  246,  263. 

Interdenominational  Societies,  264. 

Interdict,  131,  143,  145. 

International  Arbitration,  97,  143—147,  151,  349;  Authority,  125;  Cha- 
racter of  Freemasonry,  308 ;  Workmen's  Association,  223,  332. 

Interpretation  of  Holy  Scriptures,  230,  231,  265,  274. 

Intolerance  of  Sectaries,  72,  230,  234—238,  258,  259. 

Intrigues  of  Sectaries,  64,  70,  77,  306,  323. 

Inventions,  223;  Mediaeval,  98,  184,  186,  193,  202,  223. 

Investitures,  Ecclesiastical,  130—135;  Feudal,  128. 

Ireland,  Colonized  by  Germans,  251 ;  Plundered  by  English,  234—235 ; 
Glories  of,  109,  110,  248—254;  Parliament  of,  252,  253. 

Irena,  Empress,  85. 

Iron  Age,   1,  106,  121. 

Iroquois  Indians,  295,  296. 

Isabella,  Queen,  199,  240. 

Isaurian  Emperors,  84,  195. 

Islam,  48,  78,  191. 

Israel,  7,  20,  26,  33;  the  true,  21,  35,  44,  139. 

Italian  Bank,  324;  Federation,  138,  143,  338;  Popes,  346. 

Italy,  Church  of,  47,  159,  187,  202,  325;  Freemasonry  in,  309,  310,  324 
—326,  336,  338;  Heresy  in,  78,  196;  Glories  of,  33,  34,  136—138, 
140—141,  173—174,  202—211 ;  its  Debt  to  Popes,  102,  124,  126, 
129,  136,  138,  143,  152,  163,  197,  338,  348—350;  Republics  of, 
136—138,  140—141,  181,  350;  Persecutions  in,  107,  325,  338, 
350;  Religious  Orders  in,  118,  176;  Schism  in,  78,  135,  138. 

Jacobins,  of  France,  314. 
Jacobites,   80,  161. 
James  I,  250;  II,  251,  256;  III,  256. 
Janissaries,  209. 
Jansenism,   226,  267,  299—302. 
Japan,  Church  of,  284—286. 
Jerome  of  Prague,  171;    St.,  63,  71. 
Jeremias  II,  Schismatic  Patriarch,  9.0. 
Jerusalem,  Latin  Kingdom  of,  177,  204,  205. 

Jesuits,  222,  276—278;  Persecutions  of,  223,  291—297,  301—312;  their 
Missionary  Work,  283—285,  291—297;  their  Aniversities,  291. 


XVIII  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Jesus  Christ,  Church  Instituted  by,  14,  28,  112,  132,  153—160,  279 ; 
Expected  by  all  Nations,  26,  33,  34;  Freemasons  His  Enemies, 
225,  309,  311;  Heretics  His  Enemies,  8,  10,  59,  62,  67—82.  168, 
194,  214,  221,  228,  237,  239,  269,  285;  His  Divinity,  10,  19,  21, 

22,  25—31,  49,  59,  62,  67—82 ;  His  Doctrines,  10,  167,  226 ;  His 
Kingship,  10,  22,  125,  134,  172,  194,  282,   327,   334;    His  Life, 
67,  167,  277,  296;  His  Promises,  166;   His  Representatives,  163, 
274;  His  Sacramental  Presence,  122,  172;  His  Triumphs,  11,  20; 
His  Enemies:  Infidels,  302,   303,  316— 319,  Jansenists,  299,  Libe- 
rals, 219,  Mohammedans,  177,  189,  Secularists,  299;  Soldiers  of, 
57,  220,  277,  282,  301 ;  the  Center  of  History,  30,  48 ;  the  only 
Savior,  74,  75,  110,   165,  221,   300;    Love  for,  47,  48;    Loyalty 
to,  248;   Passion  of,  55,  268. 

Jewish  Sect,  its  Origin,  36,  37. 

Jews,  their  Election,  32,  Fall,  35 ;  the  true,  26,  37 ;  Hostility  of  their 
Leaders,  38;  their  Acquisitivenes,  38;  their  Crimes,  12,  20,  22, 

23,  32,  34,  38,  39,  47,  51,  62,  170,  223,  325;    their  Power,   12, 
38,  39,  311;    their  Punishment,  21,  32—34,  39,  64,  194. 

John  VII,  Byzantine  Emperor,  160;  VIII,  Pope,  84;  X,  106,  197;  XII, 
107;  XXIII,  157;  Berchmans,  St.,  276;  of  Damascus,  St.,  63, 
85 ;  of  God,  St.,  276 ;  of  the  Cross,  176 ;  the  Baptist,  26 ;  the 
Evangelist,  26,  41. 

Joseph,  St.,  Foster-Father  of  Our  Lord,  27;  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
161 ;  II  of  Austria,  300. 

Josephism,  300. 

Journalism  Controlled  by  Sectarian  Jews,  38. 

Juan,  Don,  of  Austria,  213. 

Judas  Iscariot,  34,  42;  his  Successors,  321,  345. 

Julian,  the  Apostate,  22,  37,  60,  72. 

Jupiter,  6,  10,  20,  23. 

Justinian,  the  Great,  8;  II,  84. 

Key  to  History,  219. 

Keys,  Power  of,  46,  154. 

Khalifate,  Mohammedan,   192,  245,  255;  of  Bagdad,  195;  of  Cairo,  201; 

of  Cordova,  195,  198,   199;  of  Damascus,  195. 
Kilkenny,  Confederation  of,  250. 
Kingdom  of  Christ,  11,  35,  46,  57,  62,  134,  160,  162,  194,  225,  283,  309; 

of  God,  162,  305;  of  Jerusalem,  177,  204,  205. 
Kings,  Appointment  and  Deposition  of,  132,  143;   Church  Oppressed  by, 

126,  135,  154,  256,  300;  Exemplary,  118,  173;   Protestantism  a 

Tool  of,  254;  Rivalled  by  Mediaeval  Republics,  181. 
Knights,    179,  186,  203,  277;    Functions  of,  98,  128,  179;    Hospitallers 

of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  (of  Rhodes  and  Malta),    177,  204,  209, 

212,  254;  of  the  Sahara,  287;  Religious  Orders  of,  176—178,  198; 

Templar,  151,  177,  178;  Spanish,  180,  198;  Teutonic,  114,  180; 

Virtues  of,  128,  172,  178—179,  185. 
Knox,  John,  242,  245,  259,  260. 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

Koran,  188,  192;  Imposed  by  Sword,  99,  189,  191,  194. 
Kulturkampf,  340. 

Labor,   174,  J82,  190,  329,  330,  333. 

Laity,   147,  271,  325. 

Land,  Collective  Ownership  of,  174,  329,  330;  Villeins  attached  to,  182; 

Pagans  dispossessed  of,  by  Protestants,  286. 
Langton,  Stephen,   143,  144. 

Languages,  shaped  by  Monks;  of  Christian  Worship,  45. 
Las  Casas,  290. 
Lateran,  Ecumenical  Councils  of,  First,  130,135;  Second,  144;  Third,  169; 

Fourth,  163,   273. 
Latin  Church,  45,  62,  92,  287;  Empire,  Ancient,  103;  of  Constantinople, 

146,205—208;  Kingdom  ofjerusalem,  117,  204,  208;  Freemasons, 

320,  322;    Language  in  Liturgy,  45;    Nations,   193,  307;    Rite, 

90,  92,  267. 

Latin-American  Nations,  Ruined  by  Freemasonry,  45,  114,  308,  326. 
Latin-Slavonic  Rite,  45,  114. 
Latitudinarianism,  8,  270,  308. 
Laws,  of  History,  59;  Pagan,  Revived  by  Emperors,  137,  139;  Iniquitous, 

191,  252,  253;  Sociological,  333. 
Lawlesness,  8,  152,  162,  193,  226. 
Lax  Morality  of  Sectaries,  228,  266. 
Leagues,  Mediaeval,  138,  181,  261. 
Leakage  from  Protestant  Sects,  266. 
Learning,  155;  among  Separatists,  198,  221,  264;   Enemies  of,  85,  117, 

188,  192;   Faith  Promoted  by,   64,  85,   161,    168;   of  Fathers  of 

the  Church,  62;  of  Schoolmen,  166, 167, 183;  Promoted  by  Church, 

64,   125,  202,  273,  275,  277,  348. 
Legislative  Assembly  of  French  Revolution,  313. 
Legitimacy  of  Papal  International  Political  Power,  147. 
Leo  (Pope)  I,  The  Great,  79,  104;  III,  125;  IV,  106,  197;  IX,  St.,  87, 

173;  X,  102,  163,  273;  XII  [,  The  Wise,  9,  23,  24,  101,  167,  224, 

309,  333,  340,  Cited,  125,  225—227,  311,  328,  330;  (Emperor)  V, 

85;  the  Isaurian,  84;  the  Philosopher,  87. 
Leopold,  Emperor,  I,  213;  II,  308. 
Lepanto,  Battle  of,  100,  213. 
Leperhouses,   176. 

Letters,  Fostered  by  the  Church,  79,  119,  163,  349. 
Liberalism,    220—225,    323;    Failure  of,  9,   10,    224,  322;     its    Results, 

328,  333 ;    Rescue  of  Catholics  from,  342 ;    see  Freemasonry,  Infi- 
delity, Protestantism. 
Liberals,  the  Enemies  of  Civilization,  8,  of  Progress,  98,  of  Liberty,  8,  219; 

their  Persecutions,  223,  310—319;    their  Calumnies,  15,  98,  101; 

their  Machinations,  38,  307;  Rebels  against  God,  227. 
Liberation  of  Slaves,  333 ;  of  Serfs,  129 ;  of  Spain,  197—199. 
Jyiberius,  Pope,  71,  72, 


XX  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Libertinism,  the  Result  of  Freemasonry,  321. 

Liberty,  False  Notions  of,  15,  149,  177,  219,  223,  225—227,  300;  True, 
10,  225—227;  Encyclical  on,  225—227;  Enemies  of:  the  Freema- 
sons, 219,  300,  310—314,  the  Infidels,  186,  303,  313,  314,  329, 
the  Liberals,  220,  307,  the  Protestants,  219,  228,  230,  235,  238, 
247,  251,  256—259,  262;  Political,  127,  129,  137,  161,  179, 
181—183,  258,  259,  313;  Promoted  by  Popes,  97,  98,  127, 
136—141,  149,  197 ;  Struggle  of  Catholics  for,  220,  224,  242,  256, 
262,  327,  341. 

Libraries  destroyed  by  Sectaries,   85,  98,  120,  192,  316. 

License,  the  Outcome  of  Separatism,  219,  227,  231. 

Literature  tainted,   12,  78,  304. 

Llorente,  his  Mendacity,   263. 

Lodges,  Freemasonic,   225,  309,  310,  323,  329. 

Lombards,  Conversion  of,  110;  League  of,  138—143,  180. 

London,  City  of,  144,  181,  229,  307,  332;  Council  of,  171. 

Loretto,   173,  213. 

Lost  Arts,  185 ;   Records,  63. 

Louis  (of  France),  IX,  St.,  173,  181,  206;  XIV,  30,  262,  300;  XV,  300, 
302;  XVI,  313,  315;  Philippe,  323;  (of  Hungary)  II,  212;  Empe- 
ror (the  Bavarian),  151. 

Louvain,  City  Hall  at,  185;  University  of,  229. 

Love,  the  Essence  of  the  Gospel,  30,  96,  174,  176,  277,  292. 

Luitprand,  his  Mendacity,   107. 

Luna,  Peter  de,  156,  158. 

Lust,  3,  5,  6,  20,  243. 

Luther,  Martin,  120,  220—222,  228—233,  265—266,  271—275,  278,  281, 
283,  302,  345;  Cited,  231—233. 

Lutheranism,  228—232,  256—258,  267—269,  272,  304. 

Lutherans,  120,  243,  249,  255—258,  274. 

Lutheran  Testimony  to  Failure  of  Protestantism,  272. 

Lyons,  Catholic  Congress  at,  38 ;  Ecumenical  Councils  of,  139,  140 ;  Mis- 
sionary Society  of,  281;  Persecutions  at,  51—53,  317. 

Macedonian  Dynasty,  86,  195;  Heresy,  74,  76. 

Machiavelian  Politics,  149. 

Machinations  of  God's  Enemies,  64,  88,  223,  297,  307—314,  320—325, 

337—340,  342. 
Magna  Charta,   144,  181. 
Malignity  of  Liberals,  319. 
Malta,  Knights  of,  177 ;  see  Hospitallers. 
Man,  Dignity  and  Rights  of,  189,  225. 
Manicheism,  74,  75,  164,  168,  226,  266,  331. 
Man-made  Religions,  226. 
Manuel,  Byzantine  Emperor,  205. 
Manuscripts,  63,  119,   120,  174,  211. 
Man-worship,  5. 
Marcus  Aurelius,   52,  57. 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

Maronite  Syrian  Rite,  45,  80,  81,  287. 

Marquette,  Father,  296. 

Marriage,  Enemies  of,  168,  187,  188,  232;  Sacrament  of,  130,  145,  146, 

183. 

Marshall,  T.  W.,  280,  288. 
Martin  II,  Pope,  81;  V,  158. 
Martyrs,  English,  241,  247;  Irish,  248—254;  Jesnit,  294;  of  China,  285; 

of  Japan,  284;    of  United  States,   294—298;    Roman,   47,  50—58, 

254;  Spanish,  110,  294. 

Mary,  the  Blessed  Virgin,   27,  77,  112,  168,  169,  172,  173,  177,  297. 
Mary,   of  England,  I,  240,  243,  249,  II,  251 ;    Queen  of  Scots,  244,  245, 

259,  260. 
Massacres,  261;    by  Anarchists,   146,   332;    by  Liberals,   170,  313,  317; 

by  Mohammedans,  205,  210;  by  Protestants,  146,  170,  251,  261, 

262,   266. 

Masterpieces,  Ancient,  49,  211,  349;  Mediaeval,  120,  184,  185. 
Material  Progress,  11,  179,  186;  Retrogression,  88,  107. 
Materialism,  3,  299,  304,  305. 
Mathilda  of  Canossa,  Countess,  132. 
Maurice,  of  Orange,  269 ;  of  Saxony,  274. 
Maxentius,  54. 
Maximian,  54. 
Maximin,  53. 
Mazzini,   338. 

Melchite  Greek  Rite,  45,  80,  88. 
Mendicant  Orders,  145,  174—176. 
Menno  Simonis,  271. 

Mercy,  Brothers  of,  276;   Fathers  of,  177,  290. 
Metempsychosis,   3,  7,  59. 
Methodism,  266—271. 

Mexico,  Church  of,  290,   291 ;   University  of,  291.  292. 
Michael  Cerularius,  Schismatic  Patriarch,  87,  88;  Comnenus,  88;  Paleo- 

logus,  206,  208. 
Middle  Ages,  10,  11,  93,  95—217,  293;  Symbols  of,  96,  185;  Condition  of 

Society  in,  103,  149,  150,  165,  172,   180—183;    Greatest  Men  of, 

131;  Heresies  of,  171;  Progress  during,  179—185;  Science  in,  166, 

our  Debt  to,  184—186. 
Migrations  of  the  Nations,  3,  107. 
Milan,  Republic  of,  181;  See  of,  275. 
Militarism,  8,  180,  187,  189. 
Military  Orders,   147,  176,  177. 
Minim  Friars,   176. 
Mirabeau,  308. 
Miracles,  False,   300;    Proofs  of  Church's  Divinity,   12,   14,   29,  48,  57, 

109,  188,   189 ;   of  Christ's  Divinity,   19,  27,  29,  30,  33—34,  266. 
Misery,    Produced  by  Sects:    Freemasonry,    325,    Mohammedanism,   79, 

Protestantism,  247,  Socialism,  331;  Relieved  by  the  Church,  101. 


XXII  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Missionaries,  60,  113,  281,  292,  297;  Apostolic,  109,  112,  115,  163, 
220,  280,  349;  Benedictine,  118;  Irish,  110;  in  Europe,  84,  165— 
169;  in  Asia,  175,  289—298;  in  the  New  World,  175,  222,  280, 
289—298;  Sectarian,  115,  116,  264,  281,  282,  286—288. 

Modern  Age,  10,  11,  217—350;  History,  Key  of,  219,  220;  Progress, 
Cause  of,  186. 

Mohammed,  48,  96,  99,  187—189;  Errors  of,  189— 193;  II,  Sultan,  the 
Conqueror,  89,  209,  211,  212. 

Mohammedan  Ceremonies  Imitated  by  Freemasons,  311;  Features  of 
of  Lutheranism,  228;  of  Calvinism,  234—235;  Tendencies  of 
Frederic  II,  139,  John  Lackland,  144;  in  United  States,  193. 

Mohammedanism,  Apostasy  of  Separatists  to,  78,  90,  92,  116,  287; 
Errors  of,  8,  48,  146,  177,  187,  190,  287;  Inimical  to  Civilization, 
95,  99,  349,  350;  its  Evil  Effects,  95,  193;  Propagated  by  the 
Sword,  5,  88,  99,  187,  346. 

Mohammedans,  Attempts  of,  to  Subjugate  Christendom,  10,  14,  81,  89, 
106,  125,  132,  139,  146,  163,  177,  180,  200,  254. 

Monarchical  .Constitution  of  the  Church,  160 ;  Government  Favored  by 
Sectaries,  141. 

Monarchy,  Absolute,  Opposed  by  the  Church,  128,  136,  149. 

Monasteries,  their  Services  to  Education,  117,  120,  183,  369. 

Mongols,  4,  10,  78,  88,  104,  206,  209;  Evangelization  of,  109,  113— 
115,  175. 

Monks,  4,  117,  120,  131,  188,  275,  277,  281;  their  Services  to  Science 
and  Civilization,  11,  98,  117,  120—122,  202. 

Monophysitism,  78—81,  115,   116,   195. 

Monothelitism,  81. 

Monopolies,  Commercial,   39,  70,  182,  285,  330. 

Monuments,  Classic,  120;  Destroyed  by  Albigenses,  168,  Freemasons, 
224,  Liberals,  316,  Protestants,  98,  and  Socialists,  332 ;  Mediaeval, 
184,  185. 

Moors  in  Spain,  146,  170,  177,  191,  193,  198,  263. 

Morality  Undermined  by  Csesarism,  130,  Freemasonry,  223,  321,  Heres}% 
229,  230—233,  270,  273,  299,  331,  Infidelity,  302,  and  Paga- 
nism, 4,  7,  107. 

Moreno,  Garcia,  310. 

Morgan,  Assassination  of,  310. 

Mormonism,  193,  271. 

Mosaic  Dispensation,  7,  8,  26,  36,  37. 

Mother  of  God,  Mary  the,  77,  115,  168,  172,  179. 

Munzer,   Heresiarch,   271. 

Museums,   120,  211,  349. 

Mussulmans,  98 ;  see  Mohammedans. 

Mythology,   Pagan,  67. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  I,  28,  48,  181,  189,  224,  259,  318,  336,  337,  3465 
Cited,  28—31;  III,  325. 

Narrowness  of  Pseudo-reformers,   266. 

Nationalities  all  equally  at  Home  in  the  Church,  158,  281,  346, 


CONTENTS.  XXIII 

Natives,    American,    Protected    and    Civilized  by  the  Church,    289—296; 

Ruined  by  Sects,   293—298. 
Naturalism,   Heresy  of,  299,  304,  311,  339. 
Negro  Slavery  among  Mohammedans,   191 — 192,   287;    in  America,  193, 

289,  293. 

Negro  Evangelization,  290,  293,  327. 
Neo-Paganism,  Modern,  10,  222,  271—272,  304. 
Nepotism,  162. 

Nero,  Persecution  by,  47,  50;   Rivals  of,  54,  239,  249. 
Nestorianism,   64,  74,  115,  116,  195. 
Netherlands,  Calvinists  of,  258,  262—263. 
Newspapers  Controlled  by  Jews,  38. 

Nicea,  Ecumenical  Councils  of,  67,  68,  84—85;  Empire  of,  205. 
Nihilists,  223,  332. 
Nirvana,  3. 

Novatians  refuse  Absolution,  74. 
Number  of  Catholics,  326 ;  of  Protestants,  264. 
Numerals,  Indian  not  Arabic,   193. 
Nuns,  see  Sisters. 

Oath,  Blind  Freemasonic,  308—310;  of  Allegiance,  128,  132,  137,  144. 

O'Connell,  253. 

Old  Catholic  Sect,  339—340. 

Olympus,  Mount,  6,  20—23. 

Oppression,  by  Sectaries,    170,  238,  261,  286,  289,  323;    Prevented  by 

Knights,  180;  Socialistic  Remedy  for,  330. 
Opportuneness  of  Infallibility  Definition,  339. 
Optimism,  Pagan,  3. 

Orange,  House  of,  263;  Maurice  of,  269;  William  of,  251,  262. 
Order,  of  Christ,  177;  of  Templars,  151;  Social,  97,  126—129,  169—170, 

318,  333,  334. 

Orders,  Religious,  145,   147,  173—177,  222,  237,  241,  277,  331. 
Organization,  112,  221,  234;  among  Catholics  necessary,  321,  326. 
Origen  the  Apologist,   50. 

Original  Sin,  Heresies  regarding,  74,  75,  221. 
Orthez,  Massacre  of,  261. 
Orthodox  Schismatics,  78,  89,  91,  160. 
Orthodoxy,  60,  69,  83. 
Ostrogoths,  72,  104. 

Otto  the  Great  (I),  106,  114,  126 ;  IV,  143. 
Ottoman  Turks,  89,  100,  181,  190,  191,  200,  208—214. 
Outlawry,  144,   223. 
Ownership,  329,  333. 
Oxford  University,  13,  171,  183,  270. 

Pacific,  Evangelization  of  the,  286,   290,  294. 

Paganism,  1—10,  23,  25,  47,  49—58,  88,  109,  188,   194,  333;    Compro- 
mises with,  22,  61,  67,  69;  Revivals  of,  8,  22,  59,  64,  78,  137, 


XXIV  THE  THREE  AGES. 

139,  162,  171,  189,  219,  221,  255,  256,  271,  272,  283,  299,  304 

—306,   311. 
Pagans,  1,  25,  51,  90,  91,   122,  187,  190,  194,  332;   Conversion  of,  23, 

55,  110,  115,  118,  177,  219,  280,  282—298;    Heretics  Compared 

to,  20;  Liberals  Compared  to,  328;  Schismatics  Compared  to,  194. 
Panama  Canal  Co.,  324. 
Pan-destruction,  332. 

Pantheism,   2,  7,  8,  59—60,  299,  304,  305. 
Papacy,  Enemies  of,  153,  224,  230,  254,  274,  335 ;  Prevents  Absolutism, 

149,  154;   Protected  by  Divine  Providence,  151,  154—164, 
Papal  Authority,  86,   125,   132,   149,   155,   160,   225,  240;    Curia,  147; 

Elections,  107,  344;  Rights,  137;  Schism  a  misnomer,  155;  States, 

137,  151,  152,  324,  325,  335. 
Paper,  its  Scarcity  in  the  Middle  Ages,  183. 

Paradise,  Mohammedan,  190;  Terrestrial,  1,  9,  12,  101,  292. 

Paraguay,   Missions  in,  291,  294,  298. 

Pariahs,   3,  245. 

Parker,   Matthew,  244,  246. 

Parliamentarianism,  Ecclesiastical,  162. 

Parnell,  253. 

Parochial  Schools,  183. 

Parr,  Catherine,  240. 

Parseeism,  1,  5,  188. 

Passions,  Human,  20,  60;  let  loose  by  Sectaries,  20,  187,  228,  232. 

Patience  of  Catholics  Excessive,   323. 

Patriarchate,  of  Alexandria,  67,  68,  80,  195 ;  of  Constantinople,  76,  79, 

81,  113,  161,  195,  211;  of  Rome,  88,  see  Papacy ;  Schismatic,  of 

Moscow,  90. 
Patriarchates,  Usurped  by  Heretics,  70,  71,  76,  78,  and  Schismatics,  83, 

87—90,  211. 
Patrick,  St.,  109,  117. 

Patrimony,  of  St.  Peter,  101,  124;  of  the  Poor,  223,  316. 
Paul,  St.,  the  Apostle,  42,  44,  47,  50,  56,  Cited,   26,  32 ;   St.,  a  Second, 

283;  III,  Pope,  278,  290;  St.,  of  Constantinople,  76. 
Pauperism,  the  Result  of  Protestantism,  239,  241,  242,  247,  251,  333. 
Peace,  Disturbed  by  Separatists,   168,  318,   328;    of  Augsburg,  257;    of 

Westphalia,  257;  Promoted  by  Catholic  Religion,  121,  182,  206, 

220,  225,  257,    by  Christian  Rulers,  125,  165,    by  Holy  Empire, 

129,  by  Inquisition,  262,  by  Military  Orders,  177,  by  Popes,  134, 

138,  143,  147,  149. 
Peaceableness  of  Catholic  Peoples,  321. 
Pelagianism,  74—76,  266. 
Pelagius,  King  of  Spain,  197. 

Penal  Laws  against  Catholics,  245—256,  278;  Settlements  in  Australia, 

286. 
Pentecost,  the  Great,  37—45;  its  Wonders  renewed,  283. 


CONTENTvS.  XXV 

People,  Devoted  to  the  Popes,  132,  150,  162;  Oppressed  by  Freemasons, 
328,  Liberals,  307,  317,  Protestants,  230,  238,  247,  256;  Ruined 
by  Socialism,  330,  331 ;  their  Enemies  the  Church's  Enemies,  143 ; 
Protected  by  Knights,  180,  by  the  Church,  15,  133,  136,  147, 
165,  168,  349. 

Pepin  the  Short,  112,  124,  125,  350. 

Periodicity  of  Freemasonic  Revolutions,  323,  324. 

Persecutions:  by  Albigenses,  146,  169;  by  Arians,  71,  72.  110;  by  Free- 
masons, 223,  310—319,  326,  336,  340 ;  by  Huguenots,  291 ;  by 
Hussites,  171;  by  Iconoclasts,  85— 87 ;  by  Infidels,  223,  310—319, 
335,  336;  by  Jews,  26,  39,  47;  by  Liberals,  223,  292,  295,  310 
—326;  by  Macedonians,  76;  by  Mohammedans,  106,  201;  by 
Monophysites,  Monothelites,  79;  by  Nestorians,  77,  79;  by  Pa- 
gans, 11,  20,  23,  47,  49—58,  72,  75,  110,  114,  189,  284—286, 
295;  by  Protestants,  238,  241—245,  246,  248—255,  258—264, 
286,  294—298,  326;  by  Schismatics,  88,  90,  92;  by  Worldly 
Princes,  84,  117,  132—135,  140,  144,  145,  150;  the  Church  Bene- 
fitted  by,  43,  254,  335. 

Persia,  5,  23,  38,  53,  194;  Church  of,  26,  43,  78;  Heresies  of,  75,  78. 

Personality,  of  Jesus  Christ,   76—80. 

Pessimism,  3. 

Peter,  the  Apostle,  St.,  28,  29,  42—50,  154,  233;  Bark  of,  336;  See  of, 
39,  71,  101,  107,  130,  142,  143,  237,  273,  275;  the  Church  built 
on,  107,  225;  the  Popes  his  Successors,  21,  64,  79,  132,  154, 
160—163,  278. 

Philip,  of  France:  Augustus,  143—146,  205;  the  Fair,  148—153;  of 
Spain:  II,  213,  245;  III,  291;  King  of  the  Narragansets,  293;  of 
Hesse,  230—232. 

Philippine  Islands,  Evangelization  of,  286. 

Philosophers,  False,  22,  24,  51,  57,  61,  302—307;  True,  19,  22—24,  60, 
63,  167,  349. 

Philosophy,  its  Debt  to  Revelation,  7,  12,  19,  59 ;  its  Services  to  Religion, 
19,  22,  24,  59—63,  162,  165;  its  History,  63;  its  Importance, 
23,  24,  165 ;  the  greatest  Masterpiece  of,  24,  167. 

Photius,  Schism  of,  86,  87,  195. 

Pietism,  266,  268. 

Pious  Schools,  Fathers  of  the,  176. 

Pirates,  Mohammedan,  106,  147,  177,  191—192,  197,  212;  Pagan,  105; 
Protestant,  245,  262. 

Pisa,  Council  of,   154—156. 

Pius,  Popes:  II,  163;  V,  St.,  102,  275,  276;  VI,  224,  335;  VII,  224,  336, 
337;  IX,  224,  338,  339. 

Plato,  7,  22,  60. 

Plundering,  by  Sectaries,  150,  199,  307,  320,  321. 

Plutocracy,  328—333. 

Poitiers,  Battle  of,  196. 

Poland,  143,  213,  214,  261,  323 ;  Church  of,  90,  114,  174,  278. 


XXVI  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Pole,  Cardinal,  243,  248,  249. 

Political  Equality,  John  Adams  on,  329  ;  Liberty,  Fostered  by  the  Church, 
98,  140—141,  226;  Machinations  of  the  Sectaries,  61,  220,  222— 
225;  Situation,  the,  64. 

Polycarp,  St.,  51,  57. 

Polygamy,  Mohammedan,  8,  90,  96,  99,  146,  187,  189,  190—133,  350; 
Mormon,  193,  271. 

Polytheism,  1,  8. 

Pombal,  301,  304. 

Poor,  Church's  Kindness  to,  70;  Enslaved  by  Mohammedans  and  Pagans, 
6,  191 ;  Robbed  by  Freemasons,  Liberals  and  Reformers,  223,  241, 
316;  their  Condition  in  the  Middle  Ages,  182. 

Popes,  Benedictine,  118;  Character  of,  173,  344—346;  Extraction  of, 
142,  345,  347;  Friends  of  Liberty,  39,  138,  181;  Hated  by  God's 
Enemies,  107,  210,  225—232,  245,  318,  350;  Martyrdom  of,  29, 
57,  345;  Number  of,  163,  164,  344;  Protected  by  Divine  Provi- 
dence, 161—164 ;  the  Bonds  of  International  Unity,  140,  200,  202, 
208,  210,  214,  241 ;  the  Patrons  of  Learning,  183,  348,  349 ; 
their  Functions,  64,  68—69,  77,  79,  124—126,  142—147,  206; 
their  Relations  with  Empire,  133,  138,  with  French  Church, 
314;  their  Resistance  to  Tyrants,  240,  336;  their  Services  to 
Civilization,  101,  102,  155,  197,  211,  232,  348—350;  their  Wis- 
dom, 131,  174,  346—348 ;  Deserve  Gratitude  of  Mankind  for  Ex- 
posing the  Freemasons,  309;  see  Roman  Pontiffs. 

Portraits  of  Popes,  344. 

Portugal,  198,  301 ;  Oppressed  by  Freemasons,  304,  323,  326. 

Portuguese,  in  India,  283;  in  Brazil,  292. 

Prague,  Jerome  of,  171;  University  of,  171,  183,  304. 

Preachers  of  Error,  169,  221,  232,  246;  of  the  Gospel,  41,  63,  101,  113, 
163,  168,  283—285;  Order  of,  145,  167,  170. 

Predestination,  Errors  regarding,  189,  234,  268,  269. 

Prejudice,  Unreasonable,  23,  147,  181,  253. 

Presbyterianism,  120,  234—238,  250,  258—263,  266,  286. 

Press,  Infidel,  in  Catholic  Countries,  321. 

Presumption  of  Heresiarchs,  229,  230. 

Priests,  67,  131,  182;  Aaronic,  32;  Celibacy  or  Marriage  of,  83,  131, 
232;  Pagan,  47—51;  Persecutions  of,  146,  171,  245—252,  261, 
275,  314,  319;  Survival  of  Churches  without,  284,  285;  Training 
and  Qualifications  of,  70,  84,  222,  246. 

Princes,  Sects  the  Tools  of,  64,  256;  Church  Restrains  them,  15,  129, 
153,  180;  their  Attempts  on  Church's  Liberty,  107,  121,  130— 
135. 

Printing  Presses  owned  by  Jews  and  Freemasons,  12. 

Private  Interpretation  of  the  Bible,   221,  231,  264—266,  274. 

Private  Ownership,  329. 

Profit-sharing  in  Middle  Ages,   182. 

Progress,  Interrupted  by  Sectarianism,  98—101,  185;  the  Result  of  True 
Religion,  9,  25,  97,  98,  120,  163,179-185,219,322,  327,  340,  341. 


CONTENTS.  XXVII 

Proletariat,  393. 

Propagation  of  the  Faith,  43,  44,  109—116.  254,  280—298. 

Property,  Franciscan  Order  not  allowed  any,  175 ;  not  respected  by 
Infidels,  146,  168,  223,  314—318,  by  Mohammedans,  199,  by 
Pagans,  2,  by  Protestants,  230,  241,  242,  256,  331,  or  by  So- 
cialists, 329;  Protected  by  the  Church,  290. 

Prophecies,  42,  61,  62,  103,  118;   Messianic,  14,  21,  25,  26,  33—35,  40. 

Prophets,  False,  48,  99,  100,  187—190,  228,  231. 

Proselyiism,  63;  Albigensian,  169,  170;  Arian,  68;  Infidel,  322;  Moham- 
medan, 187,  189;  Protestant,  78,  221,  281—283,  287,  288,  294, 
310,  350. 

Protestant  Lands,  mostly  Monarchical,  141. 

Protestantism,  90,  140,  163,  221,  226,  228,  231,  233,  262,  278,  303; 
a  Rebellion  against  God,  10,  222,  225;  Conversions  from,  13, 
278;  Crimes  of,  12,  39,  64,  91,  122,  184,  211,  212,  214,  220, 
223,  236,  255,  256,  263,  276,  289,  297—298,  309,335;  Imposed 
by  Force,  146,  163,  170,  220,  230,  239,  241—247,  249—263; 
its  Failure,  64,  165,  171,  221,  222,  224,  259,  264—272,  342; 
Results  of,  98,  100,  120,  147,  167,  170,  185,  186,  208,  211,  221, 
228,  230—238,  241,  242,  245—247,  249,  251,  252,  255,  263,  266 
—272,  293—305,  311,  320,  333. 

Protestants,  how  treated  by  Catholic  Majorities,  258;  Number  of, 
266,  269. 

Providence,  brings  good  out  of  Evil,  59,  224,  336 ;  Church  protected  by, 
12.  29,  64,  72,  73,  107,  108,  116,  151,  153,  161—164,  201,  251, 
278,  298,  336;  Instruments  of,  70,  97,  110,  117,  148,  152,  194, 
278;  Warnings  of,  22,  64,  163. 

Prussia,  177,  268,  302,  323,  325. 

Pseudo-Philosophers,  61,  307;  Pseudo-Republics,  293,  314—318;  Pseudo- 
Reformation,  see  Protestantism. 

Punishment  of  Heresy,  72,  Schism,  161,  Worldliness,  228;  see  Ven- 
geance. 

Puritans,  the,  237,  238,  250,  260,  261,  266. 

Pusey,  Dr.,  13,   270. 

Questions  of  the  day  solved  by  the  past,   15,  341. 

Raising  of  the  dead,  27,  284. 

Raskolniks,  the,  90,  91. 

Rationalism,  8,  60,  67,  266,  268,  302—306,  348. 

Reactionary  Character  of  Infidelity,  304,  306. 

Reason,  Abuse  of,  219,  266;    Exalted  by  Faith,  23,  24;    Goddess  of,  20, 

319;  True  Religion  Vindicated  by,  61,  63,  101,  167,  225,  305. 
Rebaptizers,  271. 
Rebellion  against  Christ,  159,  195;    Protestants  addicted  to,  245,  258— 

260,   265. 

Reccared  the  Catholic,   111. 
Reconversion  of  Protestant  Lands,   277. 
Recusancy,  245. 


XXVIII  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Redemption,  7,  22,  28,  32,  101,  110,  165;  Errors  relating  to,  74,  75; 
Heresy  a  Sin  against,  8. 

Redemptive  Orders,   147,  176,  177. 

Reformation,  a  Function  of  Ecumenical  Councils,  64,  163,  222,  273,  275 
—277;  False,  140,  221,  222,  234—238,  247,  255— 263 ;  Benedictine, 
117,  121;  Bernardine,  Franciscan,  173,  174;  Gregorian,  84,  130; 
Tridentine  or  Borromean,  222,  273,  275—276. 

Reformers,  Pagan,  7,  26,  330;  True,  22,  (Gregory  VII)  24,  (Innocent 
III)  144,  (Martin  V)  158,  (St.  Charles  Borromeo)  275. 

Reincarnation,  3,  4. 

Religion,  Enemies  of,  22,  117,  146,  169,  171,  228,  257,  302,  323,  329, 
331;  Defended  by  Knights,  180,  254,  287;  the  true,  10,  14,  33, 
98,  178,  225,  262,  280;  see  Church. 

Religions,  False,  15,  61—82,  86—92,  97,  187,  188,  219,  220,  234—247, 
264-273. 

Religious  Liberty,  opposed  by  Sectaries,  252,  256,  259,  314,  323,  but 
promoted  by  Catholics,  107,  130—135,  220,  242,  256,  258,  260, 
262;  Rights,  Catholics  should  contend  for  their,  326. 

Renovation  of  World  by  the  Church,   11. 

Republics,  False,  143,  152,  159,  223,  260,  316,  335;  Medieval,  98,  136 
—141,  181,  182,  185;  nearly  all  Catholic,  141;  South  American, 
293. 

Repulsiveness  of  Infidelity,  304. 

Resurrection  of  Christ,  26,  28,  33,  34. 

Reunion  of  Christendom,  160,  341. 

Revolution,  Heresy  established  by,  64,  184,  244,  331;  the  American,  253; 
the  French,  81,  253,  267,  292,  313—319;  the  Social,  331-333. 

Revolutions  caused  by  Freemasonry,  223,  224,  299,  307—310,  313—325, 
328,  332. 

Right  of  Asylum,  121,  129. 

Rights,  Catholics  deprived  of,  224,  252,  326 ;  of  God  and  Man  trampled 
on  by  Church's  Enemies,  149,  191,  225,  258,  307,  314,  331. 

Rigorism,  75,  234,  237,  300. 

Rites,  Ecclesiastical,  45,  78,  80,  81,  88,  91,  161;  Freemasonic,  307;  Mo- 
hammedan, 189. 

Ritualism,  269,  270. 

Robber-Council  of  Ephesus,  79. 

Robbery  by  Freemasons,  323,  324,  326;  by  Mohammedans,  191;  by 
Protestants,  234,  250,  251. 

Robespierre,  304,  314,  317. 

Roman  Absolutism  revived,  139;  Empire,  21,  29,  38,  49,  53,  97,  103, 
116,  117,  167,  248,  350;  Martyrs,  57,  254,  285. 

Roman  Pontiffs,  Average  Life  of,  163;  Election  of,  137;  Heresies  Con- 
demned by,  76,  79,  81,  85,  267,  300,  309;  Loyalty  to,  90,  92,  112 
—114,  125,  132,  138,161 ;  Propagation  of  Faith  by,  109,  115,  280, 
281;  Protected  by  Divine  Providence,  92,  161—164;  their  Inter- 
national Temporal  Authority,  123,  125,  126,  129,  139,  142—153. 


CONTENTS.  XXIX 

Roman  Pontifical  States,  123—125,  151,  324,  325,  337,  338,  350. 

Rome,  City  of,  50,  86,  104,  113,  118,  125,  132,  152,  234,  237,  310,  324; 
its  Debt  to  the  Popes,  102,  124,  149,  152,  185,  209,  349;  See  of, 
126,  147,  151.  156,  220;  Sieges  of,  133,  139,  335. 

Rosary,  169,   342. 

Ruin,  Averted  from  Church  by  Divine  Providence,  107,  120;  Caused  by 
Sectarians,  120,  187,  191,  195,  206,  223,  232,  249,  261,  272, 
293—298,  320—327. 

Russian  Antisemitism,  39;  Church,  88—90,  115;  Dissenting  Sects,  267; 
Empire,  88,  323;  Nihilists,  223,  332;  Official  Schism,  78,  89,  91, 
281. 

Ruthenian  Greek  Rite,  45. 

Sacramental  Power  of  Apostates,  75. 

Sacrifice,  among  Gentiles,  2 ;  Lost  by  Jewish  Sectaries,  37 ;  of  Calvary, 
26 ;  of  the  Mass,  34,  58,  275 ;  of  Self,  178,  264. 

Saints,  91,  155,  163,  168,  227;  Canonization  of,  339;  Images  of,  74,85, 
195;  Example  of,  277;  Mediaeval,  173—176;  Nations  of,  110, 
122,  199;  of  Tridentine  Period,  222,  275,  276;  Peruvian,  290; 
Royal,  11.5,  173,  206. 

Saint-Simonians,  331. 

Saladin,   205. 

Salvation,  Chief  Object  of  Life,  98,  142,  167,  172;  Errors  regarding,  221, 
231,  235,  269,  274. 

Sanctuary,  Pollution  of  the,  130;  Right  of,  121,  122. 

Saracens,   106,  139,  191,  197. 

Sardinia,  Kingdom  of,  139,  149,  325. 

Sardica,  Apostolic  Council  of,  71. 

Satan,  his  Warfare  against  Church,  9,  11,  59,  83,  103,  220,  228,  230, 
274,  335;  Sect  of,  309—312. 

Savior,  26,  201;  Jesus  Christ  the  only,  57,  221,  300;  Luther  represented 
as,  228. 

Saviors  of  Europe  from  Turks,  214. 

Scandals,  131,  144,  145,  155,  156,  162,  172,  174,  193,  226,  291,  300, 
301;  their  Causes,  106,  107,  130,  166,  321. 

Scanderbeg,  Prince,  209. 

Scandinavia,  105,  230,  266;  Conversion  of,  109,  113. 

Scepticism,  10. 

Schism,  Causes  of,  64,  83—86,  230;  African  or  Meletian,  67,  74; 
English,  239—241,  244;  French,  314—316;  Greek,  83—92,  194, 
208,  210,  281;  Iconoclastic,  83;  Jewish,  44;  Latin,  78,  131,  133, 
159,  314;  Papal,  improperly  so-called,  155,  156;  Punishment  of, 
64,  91,  99,  100,  195,  206,  208—211;  Results  of,  62,  63,  83,  88, 
91,  115,  162,  172,  211,  316,  350;  Russian,  78,  88;  the  Worst  of 
Crimes,  8,  59,  61,  62,  194;  Retractions  of,  89. 

Schismatics,  Calumnies  of,  150;  Conversion  of,  160,  287;  Europe  betrayed 
by,  199,  214;  Persecutions  by,  92,  134;  Parasitic  on  Govern- 
ments, 90,  295. 

Schismatic  Lands  all  Monarchical,  141;  Patriarchs,  86—90;  Tendencies 
of  Governments,  301,  355,  of  Jansenists,  299. 


XXX  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Scholastic  Philosophy,  24. 

Schoolmen,  the,  23,  24,  165—167,  185,  229. 

Schoolmasters,  Price  set  on  their  Heads  by  Protestants,   252. 

Schools,  Belgian,  322;  Controlled  by  Jews  and  Freemasons,  12;  Catholic, 
183,  252,  297,  298;  Infidel,  321;  Mediaeval,  183,  184,  192;  Mo- 
hammedan, 192,  193;  Ruined  by  Protestantism,  246. 

Science,  Ancient,  20,  49,  59;  Arabian,  193;  Benefited  by  Crusades,  202; 
Faith  promoted  by,  64,  75,  165,  285;  False,  305,  340;  Fostered 
by  Popes,  102,  135,  273,  349;  Liberalism  inimical  to,  316;  Mediae- 
val, 98,  136,  162,  183,  184;  Promoted  by  Church,  11,  120,  121, 
202;  Sacred,  24,  29,  59,  63. 

Scotland,  156,  238,  250,  258—260,  269. 

Sect,  Jewish,  23,  35,  44;  Mohammedan,  99;  of  Satan,  307—327. 

Sectarianism,  Punishment  of,  15,  64,  194,  260,  261,  267,  268,  280;  Re- 
sults of,  8,  11,  91,  115,  116,  178,  179,  262,  263,  281—283,  298. 

Sectaries,  the  Enemies  of  God  and  Society,  116,  120,  255,  311. 

Sects,  Confederation  of,  15 ;  Decline  and  Disappearance  of,  15 ;  Established 
by  Law,  163 ;  Luther's  Views  of,  231 ;  Mediaeval,  146 ;  Neo-Pagan, 
271,  272 ;  Number  of,  267 ;  Oriental,  80,  287,  288 ;  Origin  of,  8 ;  Pa- 
gan, 4,  7;  Persecutions  by,  220,  245,  258,  298,  315;  Protestant, 
64,  163,  171,  221,  222,  231,  242,  264—272;  Russian,  90,  267. 

Self-defence,  171;  -government,  181,  253;  -indulgence,  96;  -reformation  of 
the  Church,  279;  of  Benedictines,  128;  -sacrifice,  96,  178,  281; 
-torture,  2,  3. 

Seljukian  Turks,  89,  100,  190,  191,  200,  201;  their  Conquest  of  Europe 
of  Europe  prevented  by  Crusades,  202,  214. 

Selling  of  Catholic  Nations  by  Freemasons,  325. 

Semi-Pelagianism,  76. 

Sensualism,  Mohammedan,  8,  99,  187—190;  Pagan,  3,  5. 

Sentimentalism,  222,  266,  268. 

Separatism,  8,  15,  25,  116,  194;   see  Sectarianism. 

Septimius  Severus,  his  Crime  and  Punishment,  53. 

Serfdom  in  Mediaeval  Europe,   129,  180—182,  202. 

Sergius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  81;   St.,  Pope,  84. 

Servetus,  Burnt  by  Calvin,  236. 

Servility  of  Heretics,  64. 

Servite  Friars,  176. 

Seventh  Day  Adventists,  271. 

Severity  of  Inquisition  Mitigated  by  the  Popes,  170. 

Seymour,  Jane,  240,  242. 

Shakers,  270. 

Sick,  Religions  Orders  for  Ministering  to  the,  176,  177,  276. 

Simony,  Sin  of,  88,  107,  130,  131—133. 

Sirmium,  Anti-Councils  of,  71,  72. 

Sixtus  V,  275. 

Slave-hunters,  191,  193;  -markets,  192;  -trade,  287,  303. 


CONTENTS.  XXXI 

Slavery,  Abolished  by  the  Church,  110,  129,  225,  226,  290,  333;  Evils 
of,  6,  187;  Industrial,  333;  Promoted  by  Infidelity,  303,  Moham- 
medanism, 8,  96,  99,  177,  187,  189—193,  197,  350,  Paganism,  2, 
6,  8,  36,  37,  111,  119,  and  Protestantism,  238,  242,  293;  Revived 
in  America,  193,  270,  289;  the  Result  of  Heresy,  99,  Liberalism, 
219,  Schism,  89,  99,  100,  Socialism,  330. 

Slavonic  Liturgy,  113,  114;  Rites,  90—92. 

Slavs,  the,  103;  their  Conversion,  109,  113. 

Smith,  Joseph,  the  False  Prophet,  271. 

Sobieski,  213. 

Socialism,  144,  302,  328,  330,  333,  334. 

Society,  Constitution  of,  173,  179,  182,  333,  334;  Defended  by  Knights, 
180;  Faith  its  Foundation,  165,  333,  334:  False  Theories  of,  60, 
329;  Enemies  of  Freemasons,  220,  223,  225,  311,  328,  Heretics, 
146,  168—171,  331,  Liberals,  170,  219,  Mohammedans,  191, 
Socialists,  223;  Defended  by  Knights,  180;  Catholics,  170. 

Socrates,  7,  22,  60. 

Sodom,  Luther's,  233. 

Soldiers  of  Christ,   53,  55,  57,  116,  201,  277,  301. 

Solyman  the  Magnificent,   100,  115,  208,  211. 

Somerset,  242—244,  249. 

Sophists,  22,  61—65;  Modern,  23,  222,  302,  329,  348. 

Sorcery,  5,  260. 

Soul,  60,  289,  290. 

South  America,   122,  292,  293. 

Spain,  Church  of,  43,  47,  69,  100,  184,  301;  Cause  of  its  Decline,  199, 
324,  326;  Freemasonry  in,  309,  323;  Glories  of,  111,  199,  291, 
292;  Heresy  in,  196;  Infidelity  in,  301,  304;  its  National  Existence 
Preserved  by  the  Inquisition,  263 ;  its  Treatment  of  the  Indians, 
298;  its  Wars  with  the  Moors,  146,  197;  Mohammedanism  in, 
38,  106;  Military  Orders  of,  171,  180,  198;  Persecution  in,  301; 
Philip  II  of,  213;  III  of,  291;  Universities  in,  184;  Visigoths  of, 
100,  110;  War  of  United  States  with,  324;  Missionaries  of, 
289—294;  Possession  of  America,  Reward  of  its  Devotion,  193, 
289—294. 

Spiritists,  271. 

Spouse  of  Christ,  the,  62,  135,  279. 

Standing  Armies,  the  Result  of  Mohammedanism  and  Protestantism, 
209,  255,  256. 

State,  Heresy,  Infidelity  and  Socialism  Dangerous  to,  168—171,  300,  315, 
332;  its  Attempts  on  Church's  Liberty,  61,  88,  279,  300;  its 
Cooperation  with  Church,  156,  289,  281;  its  Interests  Promoted 
by  Church,  117,  174;  Despotism  of  the,  Opposed  by  Church, 
333,  384,  Promoted  by  Sectaries,  270 ;  Ownership  of  Property  by, 
330. 

States,  Neo-Pagan  worse  than  Pagan,  328. 


XXXII  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Statesmen,  Christian,  148,  165    168—171,  206. 

Stephen  III,  Pope,  124;  St.,  of  Hungary,  106,  115,  178. 

Sterility  of  Schism,  83. 

Stoicism,  Revivals  of,  99,  190,  221. 

Strikes,  not  Necessary  in  Middle  Ages,  182. 

Stuart  Dynasty,  250,  256—260. 

Stubbornness  of  Heretics,  63,  169. 

Summa  contra  Gentiles  and  Summa  Theologica,  167. 

Sun,  the  Symbol  of  Christ,  96,  194,  327. 

Supernatural   Character   of  the   Church,  11,  12,  15;    Order  defined  by 

Vatican  Council,  339;  Rejected  by  Sectaries,  75,  189. 
Superstition,    Dispelled    by  the  Church,  14,   101;    Revived  by  Sectaries, 

271,  272;  False  Charges  of,  220,  228,  274, 
Suppression  of  Catholic  Missions,   291,  292 ;    of  Jesuits,  223,  292,  299, 

301,    307;    of  Knights   Templars,    177;    of  Temporal   Power  of 

Popes,  153. 
Supremacy,    Conciliar,    158;    Papal,    70,    86—89,    300;     Spiritual,    148, 

154,  158,  159,  162;   Temporal,  148—154;  Royal,  245. 
Suspects  killed  by  French  Revolutionists,  317. 
Suzerain,  127,  128,  140. 
Swatopluk,  Prince,  113. 
Sweden,  113,  143,  257,  278. 
Switzerland,   121,    333;    Heresy  in,  235,   236,  258,   259,  266;    Original 

Cantons  freest  and  most  Catholic,   258. 
Sword,  False  Religions  imposed  by,  190,  225. 
Syllabus  of  Condemned  Errors,  339. 
Syria,  Mohammedan  Rule  in,    188,    194,    201—204. 
Syrian  Church,  45,  46,  63,  78,  80,  83,  161;  Heretics,  68,  77—81;    Rite, 

80,  88,  161,  287. 

Syro-Chaldaic  Rite,  78,  287;  -Malabar,  78;  -Maronite,  287. 
Systems  of  Philosophy,  59,  60. 

Taoism,  4. 

Taxation,  Excessive,  by  Freemasons,  Schismatics  and  Turks,  80,  138,  325. 

Temple,  Knights  of  the,  151,  180,  198,  205;    of  Jerusalem,  27,  36,  37. 

Temples,  Pagan,  44,  118,  290. 

Temporal  Authority  of  the  Popes,  123—125,  129,  141,  148,  153;  Power 

United  with  Spiritual  by  Sectaries  and  Tyrants,  255,  300. 
Terror,  Reign  of,  332. 

Tertullion,  the  Apologist,  51 ;  Cited,  27,  44,  50. 
Teutonic  Knights,   114,  147,  177,  180. 
Teutons,  1,  97,  109,  112,  113,  196. 
Theodora,  St.,  Empress,  85,  86. 
Theologians,  24,  156,  160,  273,  277. 
Theology,  67,  166,  167,  292. 
Theosophists,  272. 
Third  Order,  175,  176. 


CONTENTS.  XXXIII 

Thirty  Years'  War,   213,  230,  238,  258. 

Thomas  Aquinas,  St.,  23,  166,  183,  224. 

Thousand  Years'  War,  99. 

Thrullan  Council,  89. 

Tibet,  4,  272. 

Tithes,  143,  151,  314. 

Titus,  Destruction  of  Jerusalem  by,   36. 

Tolerance  of  Catholics,  226,  323. 

Tongues,  Gift  of,  45,  283,  284;  Multiplicity  of,  in  Church,  281. 

Tortures,  Inflicted  by  Mohammedans,  211,  Pagans,  50,  52,  54,  69,  282, 
295,  296,  and  Protestants,  249 ;  of  Spanish  Inquisition,  263. 

Tracts,  Protestant,  282. 

Trades  Taught  by  the  Monks;  Trades-Unions,  Mediaeval,  182. 

Tradition,  Apostolic,  22,  63,  69,  166,  274;  Primaeval,  1,  7,  59,  64. 

Traffic  in  Church  Offices,  130. 

Trajan,  his  Crime  and  Punishment,  51—54. 

Transition  Age  for  Indians  of  South  America,  293. 

Treason,  198 ;  False  Charge  of,  301 ;  of  Darnley,  260,  Freemasons,  199, 
307,  320—325,  Liberals,  314—315,  320—325,  Monophysites, 
195,  Moors  and  Jews,  263,  320,  Protestants,  243—245,  256— 
265,  320,  Schismatics,  203,  and  Socialists,  331. 

Treaties,  138;  Broken  by  Mohammedans,  190,  and  Protestants,  251, 
257. 

Trent,  Ecumenical  Council  of,  167,  222,  273—275. 

Trinitarians,  147,  177. 

Trinity,  the  Holy,  109;  Heresies  against,  74,  75. 

Triple  Anti-Catholic  Alliance,  320. 

Triumph  of  Christ,  33,  92,  342,  343;  of  the  Papacy,  337. 

Truce  of  God,  121. 

Truth,  Divine,  64,  165,  169,  220,  222,  226,  231 ;  the  Church  its  Guar- 
dian, 14,  101,  305;  the  Middle  Path,  74. 

Tudor  Dynasty,  239—247,  256. 

Turks,  Christians  Enslaved  by  the,  161,  191,  209;  Europe  Delivered 
from  by  the  Popes,  146,  163,  171,  211—214;  Khorasmian, 
207;  Opposed  by  Knights,  146,  177;  Ottoman,  89,  100,  190,  191, 
200,  208—214,  349;  Protestants  and  Schismatics  Leagued  with, 
89,  139,  144,  199,  210,  212,  257;  Seljukian,  89,  100,  173,  190, 
191,  200,  201;  Secret  of  their  Success,  189. 

Tyrants,  Church  Oppressed  by,  84,  86,  106;  Mediaeval,  134,  136—140, 
143—146,  148—152;  Opposed  and  Punished  by  Church,  135,  136, 
153,  154,  227;  Resisted  by  Knights,  180;  Preferred  to  God  by 
Schismatics,  89,  241 ;  of  Geneva,  258. 

Tyrannical  Principles  of  Protestantism,  257. 


XXXIV  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Tyranny,  ascribed  to  God  by  Calvin,  237;  of  Calvin  and  Calvinists, 
220,  235,  258—263;  of  Elizabeth,  243,  249,  Episcopalian  Kings, 
255,  256,  Frederic  I,  II,  136—139,  Freemasons,  223,  294,  307, 
308,  313—319,  321,  323,  328,  French  Revolutionists,  319, 
Henry  VIII,  220,  239,  242,  Infidels,  293,  Knox  and  Presbyte- 
rians, 259,  Napoleon,  318,  Pilgrim  Fathers,  293,  Pagans,  5,  48, 
53,  Protestants,  261,  278,  and  their  Missionaries,  286;  Prevented 
by  Church,  256. 

Ultra-Revolutionists,  Schemes  of,  329. 

Unbelief,  Degradation  caused  by,  8 ;  Last  Refuge  of,  305 ;  the  Final  Result 
of  Protestantism,  231,  234,  237,  238,  269. 

Unitarianism,  269. 

United  States,  Catholicity  in,  141 ;  Heresy  in,  270,  271 ;  Immigration  to, 
298;  Indians  of,  122,  291,  293—298;  Independence  of,  191;  its 
Debt  to  the  Church,  193;  Martyrs  of,  295;  Persecutions  by, 
297,  298. 

Unity,  Center  of,  101,  153,  225;  Divine  Principle  of,  158,  264;  Lapses 
from,  78,  199,  264;  of  the  Church,  45,  62,  154,  155,  162;  of 
Christendom,  123,  147,  348;  of  Faith,  165—171;  of  Christian 
Science,  166,  167;  Promoted  by  Crusades,  202;  Returns  to,  13, 
78—81,  87—92,  160,  161,  206,  211,  287,  see  Conversions;  of  Faith 
and  Obedience,  347,  348. 

Universal  Church,  see  Church  and  Catholicity. 

Universalism,  269. 

Universities,  Controlled  by  Jews,  38 ;  Destroyed  by  Infidels,  Freemasons 
and  Protestants,  38,  98,  186,  246,  247,  304;  Established  by  the 
Church,  183,  277,  348,  349;  Jesuit,  291;  Mediaeval,  98,  167,  179, 
185,  349 ;  Protestant,  287 ;  Thomism  in,  167. 

Unknowable,  the,  299. 

Unmasking  of  Freemasonry,  307. 

Unnaturalness  of  Infidelity,  306 ;  of  Present  Social  System,  334 ;  of  So- 
cialism, 330. 

Unreasonabless  of  Infidelity,  305,  306. 

Urban  II,  Pope,  98,  134,  150,  201,  350;  VI,  152,  155,  156. 

Usury,  38,  39,   330. 

Utrecht,  Union  of,  262. 

Yalens,  his  Crime  and  Punishment,  72,  73. 

Valerian,  his  Crime  and  Punishment,  53. 

Valois,  House  of,  159. 

Vandalism  of  Freemasons,  318;   of  Infidels,  8,   184,   186,  224,  313,314; 

of  Protestants,  98,  184,  186. 
Vandals,  64,  72,  104,  195,  224. 
Variations  of  Protestantism,  229,  264—272. 
Vassals,  127,  128,  144,   205. 
Vatican  Archives,    14;  Basilica,   125,  185,  209,  224,  225;   Council,  224, 

335,   339,  340,  348. 


CONTENTS.  XXXV 

Yedas,  1. 

Vendeans,  317,  318. 

Vengeance,  Divine,  50,  52,  53,  57,   64,   70,   72,   78,  85,  89,   91,  92,  132, 

134,  135,  138,  140,  143,  144,  152,  153,  194.  196,  198,  199,  224, 

230,  256,  257,  301,  318,  319;  Human,  122,  125,  137,  250. 
Venice,  City  of,   104,  325,  336;    Republic  of,   a  Bulwark  of  Europe,    89, 

141,  181,  210,   211—214. 
Vicars  of  Christ,  61,  62,  81—92,  98,  112,  113,  123—126,  152—156,  161 

-163,   194,    199,   200,   224,   299,   300,  302,  326,  335,   344;    see 

Popes. 

Victor  Emmanuel,  224,  338. 
Vienne,  Council  of,  150. 

Villages,  Christian,  among  Pagans,  291 — 294. 
Violence  of  Sectaries,  67,  170,  256,  291,  307,  323. 
Vishnu,  26. 

Visigoths,  100,  104,  197;    their  Conversion,  110,  111. 
Vitality  of  the  Church.  45,  279. 

Voltaire,  222,  299,  302—304,  316—318 ;   Cited,  12,  185,  291. 
Vows,   of  Knights,  180;   of  Religions,  176,  277. 

War,  a  Punishment  of  National  Crimes,  153;  God  of,  20,  290;  Prevented 
by  Crusades,  202,  and  Feudal  System,  127,  128,  by  Popes,  134, 
147,  349;  Produced  by  Freemasonry,  321,  323,  Liberalism,  220, 
301,  Mohammedanism,  79,  106,  176,  187—195,  207—214,  350; 
Paganism,  2,  118,  289,  291;  and  Protestantism,  98,  170,  213, 
221,  238,  247,  256,  258,  261,  263,  276. 

Welf  of  Altdorff,   136. 

Wesley,  John,  270 

West,  Blessed  by  Christianity,   225;    takes  Offensive  against  Turks,  200. 

Wexford,  Massacre  of,   251. 

Whitefield,  270. 

Wickliffe,  John,  his  Heresies,  171. 

William  of  Holland,  140;   of  Orange,  251,  262. 

Windthorst,  326. 

Wittenberg,  230—233,  265 ;  University  of,  268. 

Wives,  Multiplicity  of  in  Mohammedanism,  188,  190,  191 ;  of  Henry 
VIII,  146. 

Women  Degraded  by  Mohammedanism,  191,  287,  Paganism,  289; 
Exalted  by  Church,  146,  180,  193;  in  Mediaeval  Universities, 
183,  184. 

Work  Despised  by  Mohammedans,   191. 

Working  Classes,  179,  182,  223,  311,  331,  332,  336. 

Works,  Good,  229,  231,  268—274. 

World  Ruled  by  Christian  Nations,  129. 

Wordliness  among  the  Clergy,  84,  130,  162,  300;  of  Protestants  and 
Schismatics,  88,  282;  (Opposed  by  the  Church,  155,  279. 


XXXVI  THE  THREE  AGES. 

Worm  Cut  to  Pieces,  Protestantism  Compared  to,  272. 

Writings,   Christian,  14,  41,   51,  62,   63,  115,  120,  166,  167,  174,  184,. 

225,  277,  342;  Infidel,  223,  302;  Pagan,  290. 
Zapolya,  Hungarian  Usurper,  212. 
Zeno,  Emperor,  179 ;  Philosophy  of,  22,  60. 
Zinzendorf,  Count,  268. 
Zoroaster,  5,  26. 
Zwingli,  235,  258,  265;  Cited,  233. 


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